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Mercer Brugler

@sandsharks.bsky.social

41 followers 51 following 7 posts

Chair of USCB‘s Department of Natural Sciences and Professor of Marine Biology. My academic mission is to change the face of science by broadening access and opportunities.

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Mercer Brugler @sandsharks.bsky.social · 9d

New preprint: The partial mitochondrial genome of the enigmatic Bermuda fireworm Odontosyllis enopla Verrill, 1900 and its phylogenetic implications. Currently under consideration at Genes & Genomics. www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7... Image credit: James B. Wood.

Reposted by Mercer Brugler

Deep-Sea Biology Society @dsbsoc.bsky.social · Jul 27

Another exciting 2025 #DSBSoc support awardee!

Meet Kurt Bacharo (@kurtbb.bsky.social), a grad student in the @miselab.bsky.social at U. of the Ryukyus working with #BlackCorals and currently aboard the #JAMSTEC R/V Kaimei exploring the biodiversity off the Daito Islands.

Read more in alt-text!

I am Kurt Bryant Bacharo, currently a graduate student in the Molecular Invertebrate and Systematics Laboratory @miselab.bsky.social at the University of the Ryukyus. Prior to relocating to Japan, I finished my BS and MS degrees in Marine Biology at the University of San Carlos in Cebu, Philippines where I had the privilege to study the readily accessible shallow-water reefs in my country.

Image: Kurt Bacharo smiling and wearing glasses, a white hard hat, flotation device and a DSBS17 shirt on the deck of the R/V Kaimei.

Coming from the developing world, the concept of deep-sea exploration has always been out of sight, out of mind. The opportunity only opened to me when I was selected as an OceanCensus participant to board JAMSTEC R/V Kaimei for the KM 24-03 (Leg 2) research cruise last year to explore the Kyushu-Palau Ridge and the Daito Islands. The latter is part of the Deep-Sea Archaic Refugia in Karst (D-ARK) project, whose main objective has been on the documentation of the deep-sea biodiversity found inside limestone caves.

Now in its second year, I am lucky to be part of the project again to further explore the hidden biodiversity of the Daito Islands. This year's participation for the KM 25-06C research cruise was made possible by a Research Support Award granted by @DSBSoc.

Image: Kurt gesturing towards the docked R/V Kaimei from the adjacent pier.

As my current project focuses on the taxonomy of black corals in southern Japan, the deep-sea offers significant research opportunities related to biodiversity, biogeography, and species discovery. Few of the specimens collected both in KM 24-03 (Leg 2) and KM 25-06C research cruises highlighted new records of black corals in the NW Pacific, and perhaps some are likely new to science.

Image: Two pictures of Kurt smiling towards the camera on deck of the R/V Kaimei. He is wearing a dark blue JAMSTEC shirt.

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Mercer Brugler @sandsharks.bsky.social · Apr 8

Visual depiction of the evolutionary trend of black coral skeletal networks and ridges. www.nature.com/articles/s42...

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Mercer Brugler @sandsharks.bsky.social · Apr 7

🚨 Fossilized Black Corals 🚨 Includes two transitional species too! Come learn about the evolutionary trend toward regularity in the axial skeleton from the Ordovician to modern day antipatharians (includes reduced ridges and a longitudinal fusion of networks). www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Unveiling the early evolution of black corals - Communications Biology

The authors describe two transitional species of Sterictopathes from the Middle Ordovician of Shaanxi, China, bridging the fossil gaps and thereby elevating the genus Sterictopathes to a new family, S...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Mercer Brugler

Jonathan Eisen @phylogenomics.bsky.social · Mar 27

Job Alert at @ucdavis.bsky.social

The Coastal & Marine Sciences Institute is searching for a Professor & Director. This work spans from the Davis campus to the Bodega Marine Laboratory & beyond.

View the full position description & apply by the next review date, April 27th, here: lnkd.in/gKubcJSB

Professor and Director, Coastal Marine and Sciences Institute

University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!

lnkd.in

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Mercer Brugler @sandsharks.bsky.social · Mar 26

Look who was hanging out on the recycling bin outside of the Marine Sciences Building!

Mercer Brugler @sandsharks.bsky.social · Mar 26

www.worldatlas.com/cities/the-b...

The Best College Town In South Carolina

Beaufort, South Carolina, a beautiful, historic college town, thrives as a learning hub with the University of South Carolina Beaufort.

www.worldatlas.com

Mercer Brugler @sandsharks.bsky.social · Mar 26

Cannonball jellyfish

Mercer Brugler @sandsharks.bsky.social · Mar 26

Diamondback rattlesnake from Pritchards Island (Beaufort SC)