The Leander lab from UBC Zoology visited us this summer!
Their research concentrates on the discovery and characterization of marine organismal diversity and comparative studies of novel morphological systems in predatory eukaryotes.
“This exploratory approach is motivated by the thrill of discovery, the beautiful and the bizarre, and the yearning to build a more comprehensive framework for understanding the interrelationships of life on Earth. “
Brian Leander and his lab members were here examining sand samples to discover new species of marine meiofauna and a variety of invertebrates (mostly worms – e.g., annelids, sipunculids, echiurans, nemerteans, phoronids, small crustaceans), and to isolate and discover new species of marine Gregarine apicomplexans which inhabit the intestines, coeloms and reproductive vesicles of invertebrates. You can read more these organisms here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2007.11.005.
