Tags
2012, Agnes Scott College, Lock Rogers, Megan Williams, presentation, SpARC, Sparc 2012, Undergraduate Research
Megan Williams discusses her poster with SpARC co-director Gundolf Graml, Director of German Studies
From Megan’s Abstract:
Otoliths are the ear bones of fishes used for balance and detecting vibrations. Much like a tree, otoliths exhibit growth rings. In temperate species these rings are annual, but in many tropical species rings are deposited daily. If there is a tight correlation between otolith size and fish size, then we can back-calculate an individual’s growth rate across its entire lifetime. To establish this correlation we studied two closely related species of wrasse, Thalassoma amblycephalum and T. bifasciatum. As a side project, we were interested in the degree of lateral symmetry between the otoliths on the right and left sides of an individual.
The general expectation is that physical characters should be symmetrical. However, during our dissections we observed seemingly high levels of variation. This could be a result of weak selection on some internal structures.
Faculty mentor: Lock Rogers, Biology
Love the passion you have for this study. Thank you for your research
Well done, Megan. I’m fascinated by your study, research and passion in the field of science.
I don’t really know anything about fish, but Megan’s professional and clear presentation gave me a very good idea of her research!