Ocean Biofluids Lab

Every part of a marine organism's life is affected by interactions with fluids. We study bio-fluid interactions across systems ranging from diatom sinking to shark swimming. We use advanced imaging and numerical modeling to approach questions in marine ecology, biology, and biological oceanography.

Projects

Trophic impacts of gelatinous organisms

Gelatinous organisms are important and understudied parts of marine food webs. We are using a variety of methods in the lab and field to better understand how morphology affects feeding in these organisms. This image is an example of a partial reconstruction from a 3D scan of the siphonophore Nanomia bijuga, showing the arrangement of tentilla, structures that Nanomia uses to capture its crustacean prey. Click the image to open an animation or read more here.

Oyster larvae

Oyster reefs are crucial to coastal ecosystems. Growth of oyster reefs depends on recruitment of planktonic larvae, but oyster larvae are notoriously difficult to study due to low abundances and patchy distributions. We are testing an imaging based method for surveying oyster larval abundance. We hope to link larval abundances with settlement and adult population data to assess reef health, the viability of existing artificial reef projects, and the potential for successful creation of artificial reefs.

Diatom sinking

Diatoms are important contributors to global carbon fixation, and sinking is a major carbon sink. Although diatoms are unicellular and are unable to swim, they have a remarkable ability to control their sinking speeds on very short time scales, which includes an unsteady sinking behavior in which they rapidly oscillate their sinking speeds within seconds.

Shark swimming

Fluid dynamics affects how marine organisms as diverse as lampreys, siphonophores, and mako sharks swim. This image shows how a mako shark’s scales rapidly bristles in turbulent flow, reducing blackflow and drag.

Suspension feeding

Benthic suspension feeders like bivalves and tunicates concentrate carbon and nutrients from the water column and transport it to the sea floor. We study how fluid dynamics affects and limits suspension feeding. For example, the suspension feeding rates of the juvenile Mya arenaria clam shown in this time stacked particle image are limited by the size of its inhalant siphon opening

People

Kevin Du Clos

Assistant Professor
Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium> kduclos@lumcon.edu

Emma Hoza-Frederick

Research Technician 2025-

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Former lab members

Kendall Cosper

Research Technician 2024-2025
REU Intern 2023

Marco Milton

Research Intern 2025
LA SeaGrant UROP Intern 2024
STEM Prep Student 2023

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Summer interns

2025

Hank Schaefer

J'Me Bryant

Jodie Somau

2024

Phoenix Savage

Sophie Cummings

2023

Kendall Cosper

Marco Milton

Job opportunities

Postdoc

We seek to hire a Postdoctoral Research Associate for an NSF-funded research project exploring the roles of understudied gelatinous organisms in marine food webs. The primary research focus of the lab is understanding interactions between marine organisms and their physical fluid environments, using imaging and numerical modeling techniques.
Apply Here!

Publications

• Damian-Serrano, Alejandro, Walton, Kai A., Bishop-Perdue, Anneliese, Bagoye, Sophie, Du Clos, Kevin T., Gemmell, Bradford J., Colin, Sean P., Costello, John H., and Sutherland, Kelly R. Colonial architecture modulates the speed and efficiency of multi-jet swimming in salp colonies. Journal of Experimental Biology. jeb--249465 (2025).
• Sutherland, Kelly R, Damian-Serrano, Alejandro, Du Clos, Kevin T, Gemmell, Brad J, Colin, Sean P, and Costello, John H. Spinning and corkscrewing of oceanic macroplankton revealed through in situ imaging. Science Advances. 10, 20 eadm9511 (2024).
• Du Clos, Kevin T. and Gemmell, Brad J. Does the settling column method underestimate phytoplankton sinking speeds? Royal Society Open Science. 11, 2 231455 (2024).
• Tack, Nils B., Du Clos, Kevin T., and Gemmell, Brad J. Fish can use coordinated fin motions to recapture their own vortex wake energy. Royal Society Open Science. 11, 1 231265 (2024).
• Gurung, Sanjib, Du Clos, Kevin T, Aldaddi, Abdullah, and Murphy, David W. Aggregation of zooplankton in a Stommel Retention Zone in a laboratory model of Langmuir circulation. Limnology and Oceanography. (2023).
• Voight, Janet R, Heck, Philipp R, and Du Clos, Kevin T. Competition in the deep sea: phylogeny determines destructive impact of wood-boring xylophagaids (Mollusca: Bivalvia). Marine Biodiversity. 53, 1 1--9 (2023).
• Du Clos, Kevin T, Gemmell, Brad J., Colin, Sean P., Costello, John H., Dabiri, John O., and Sutherland, Kelly R. Distributed propulsion enables fast and efficient swimming modes in physonect siphonophores. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 119, 49 e2202494119 (2022).
• Du Clos, Kevin T, Karp-Boss, Lee, and Gemmell, Brad J. Diatoms rapidly alter sinking behavior in response to changing nutrient concentrations. Limnology and Oceanography. 66, 892-900 (2021).
• Durieux, David M, Du Clos, Kevin T, Lewis, David B, and Gemmell, Brad J. Benthic jellyfish dominate water mixing in mangrove ecosystems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 118, 30 (2021).
• Gemmell, Brad J, Du Clos, Kevin T, Colin, Sean P, Sutherland, Kelly R, and Costello, John H. The most efficient metazoan swimmer creates a 'virtual wall' to enhance performance. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 288, 1942 20202494 (2021).
• Pujara, Nimish, Du Clos, Kevin T, Ayres, Stephanie, Variano, Evan A, and Karp-Boss, Lee. Measurements of trajectories and spatial distributions of diatoms (Coscinodiscus spp.) at dissipation scales of turbulence. Experiments in Fluids. 62, 7 1--15 (2021).
• Tack, Nils B, Du Clos, Kevin T, and Gemmell, Brad J. Anguilliform locomotion across a natural range of swimming speeds. Fluids. 6, 127 (2021).
• Colin, Sean P, Costello, John H, Sutherland, Kelly R, Gemmell, Brad J, Dabiri, John O, and Du Clos, Kevin T. The role of suction thrust in the metachronal paddles of swimming invertebrates. Scientific Reports. 10, 17790 (2020).
• Garcia, Sara M, Hawkins, Olivia H, Du Clos, Kevin T, and Gemmell, Brad J. Sublethal Effects of Crude Oil and Chemical Dispersants on the Eastern Oyster: Are Later Life History Stages More Vulnerable?. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 8, 10 808 (2020).
• Du Clos, Kevin T, Dabiri, John O, Costello, John H, Colin, Sean P, Morgan, Jennifer R, Fogerson, Stephanie M, and Gemmell, Brad J. Thrust generation during steady swimming and acceleration from rest in anguilliform swimmers. Journal of Experimental Biology. 222, 22 (2019).
• Du Clos, Kevin T, Karp-Boss, Lee, Villareal, Tracy A, and Gemmell, Brad J. Coscinodiscus wailesii mutes unsteady sinking in dark conditions. Biology Letters. 15, 3 20180816 (2019).
• Du Clos, Kevin T, Lang, Amy, Devey, Sean, Motta, Philip J, Habegger, Maria Laura, and Gemmell, Brad J. Passive bristling of mako shark scales in reversing flows. Journal of The Royal Society Interface. 15, 147 (2018).
• Du Clos, Kevin T and Jiang, Houshuo. Overcoming hydrodynamic challenges in suspension feeding by juvenile Mya arenaria clams. Journal of The Royal Society Interface. 15, 138 20170755 (2018).
• Du Clos, Kevin T, Jones, Ian T, Carrier, Tyler J, Brady, Damian C, and Jumars, Peter A. Model-assisted measurements of suspension-feeding flow velocities. Journal of Experimental Biology. 220, 2096-2107 (2017).
• Du Clos, Kevin T. Visualizing subsurface burrowing by the polychaete Alitta virens with particle image velocimetry. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods. 12, 703--712 (2014).
• Ogden, T L and Du Clos, Kevin T. SWeRF--A Method for Estimating the Relevant Fine Particle Fraction in Bulk Materials for Classification and Labelling Purposes by Pensis, Luetzenkirchen, and Friede. Annals of Occupational Hygiene. 58, 6 784-787 (2014).
• Du Clos, Kevin T, Lindsay, Sara M, and Jumars, Peter A. Spatial distribution of Alitta virens and Clymenella torquata with respect to rigid boundaries in mud and sand}. Journal of Marine Research. 71, 3 211--226 (2013).
• Bang, R., Marnell, L., Mold, C., Stein, M.-P., Du Clos, K.T., Chivington-Buck, C., and Du Clos, T.W. Analysis of binding sites in human C-reactive protein for FcγRI, FcγRIIA, and C1q by site-directed mutagenesis. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 280(26):25095-25102 (2005).