Blue Blubber
Blue blubber jellyfish are atypical in that they have relatively prominent oral arms and a fast staccato like bell pulsing rhythm. Experimental work has suggested that this morphology and behavior produces relatively high propulsive efficiency [1]. Typically, numerical simulations of jellyfish swimming are simplified, where the jellyfish bell propulsion is modeled, but the oral arms are not included. However, since these oral arms are prominent, neglecting them would result in overly idealized fluid dynamics. I have worked to take a three-dimensional biological model of the oral arms, transforming the model to be in a format suitable for IBAMR.
[1] T. Neil & G. Askew, “Jet-paddling jellies: swimming performance in the rhizostomeae jellyfish catostylus
mosaicus,” J Exp Biol, 221(24), 2018.
Chavanich, Suchana, et al. "Distribution pattern of the green alga Codium fragile (Suringar) Hariot, 1889 in its native range, Korea." Aquatic Invasions 1(3), 2006.
Cassiopea
Cassiopea, more commonly known as “upside-down” jellyfish, are unusual in that they spend most of their lives with their bells suctioned to the ocean floor. Rather than swimming, these jellyfish pulse their bells to generate feeding currents, nutrient acquisition, and facilitate the photosynthesis of their symbiotic algae [2]. Prior work in three dimensions has simulated the bell contractions by applying active tension but neglected the oral arms [3]. I am working on quantifying fluid mixing using Poincaré maps. This work could be extended to include the Cassiopea’s oral arms modeled as a porous disk.
[2] A. Ohdera, et al., “Upside-down but headed in the right direction: review of the highly versatile cassiopea xamachana system,” Front Eco Evol, 2018.
[3] N. Battista et al, “The presence of a substrate strengthens the jet generated by upside-down jellyfish,” Front Mar Sci, (9), 2022.