Fluid dynamic constraints on resource acquisition in small pelagic organisms

Physicists have long examined the fluid dynamics of swimming at low Reynolds number, but the main scope has rarely been to understand the behavior and ecology of microorganisms. However, many ecological questions about the functioning of small aquatic organisms can only be addressed by the application of formal fluid physics.

Here, I examine resource acquisition mechanisms in small aquatic organisms, ranging from uptake of dissolved molecules to feeding on suspended particulate prey, and examine how organism behaviors and morphologies may be shaped by the often non-intuitive small-scale fluid physics.