The By-the-Wind Sailor, Velella--2024 Judges’ Award Winner, Faculty/Project Scientist Participant Category. In Art of Science

Caption: Velella are floating colonies of hydroid polyps that often wash ashore in summer
Participant category: Faculty
Department: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Marine Biology Research Division

As part of their research on the biodiversity of marine invertebrates, researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography collect and sequence the DNA of many local San Diego species. This Velella specimen was collected off the San Diego coast, and its DNA was sequenced for a “barcoding” gene. The specimen was then deposited into the Scripps Oceanographic Collections, repositories for marine organisms and geological samples. While many pelagic species have been thought to have cosmopolitan distributions, DNA analysis and morphological assessment suggest otherwise. Established by Walter Fewkes in 1889 for specimens from California, the long-disregarded and reinstated scientific name for this species is Velella meridionalis.