Energetic costs of rapid morphological and density adjustments under turbulence

Quantify the energetic costs incurred by dinoflagellates when rapidly adjusting density, shape, and orientation in response to turbulence, including the costs of nitric oxide production and the impact on internal and external swimming efficiencies.

Background

The paper describes observations that dinoflagellates can rapidly diversify migration strategies and adjust morphology under turbulent cues, potentially incurring significant energetic costs.

The authors explicitly state that the actual costs of these rapid changes remain unknown, highlighting a gap in quantifying stress responses and their contribution to motility budgets.