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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD

@stephbilodeau.bsky.social
359 followers 1.1K following 30 posts

Aquatic ecology postdoc in the Byers lab at UGA. I study spatial ecology and species interactions. Opinions are my own. She/her. stephbilodeau.com

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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
About half of our nudibranchs consistently chose the bleached coral cues, and about half consistently chose chemical cues from healthy corals. If this variation is genetic, it could provide an opportunity for natural selection, potentially allowing future generations to better avoid bleached corals!
A barplot showing percent time spent in seawater conditioned with bleached corals (the alternative option being seawater with healthy corals). Points representing a few individual nudibranchs fall along the fifty percent line. Most individuals are split between the top and bottom of the graph, representing preferences for either the bleached or healthy coral cues. There is a small inset image of an adult nudibranch in the bottom right and large text reading "bimodal response = behavioral variation".
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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
...BUT, when we actually raised juvenile nudibranchs on bleached corals, most of them died! Mortality was as bad on bleached Porites (their host coral) as on another type of coral that they can't even eat. If the coral is bleached, it might as well not even be the right type of coral!
A two-panel figure from Bilodeau and Hay 2026. In panel A on the left, mortality is low and statistically equivalent for Porites lobata and Porites rus treatments. It is high and equivalent for bleached P. rus and Acropora pulchra. There are twenty nudibranchs in each treatment, with a significant p-value of point zero zero six. In panel B on the right, box-and-whisker plots show high and equivalent change in length for nudibranchs raised on P. lobata and P. rus. Length change is significantly lower on bleached P. rus and negative and significantly different on A. pulchra. A significant p-value of less than point zero zero one is shown.
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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
We already know a lot about how the larval (baby) nudibranchs settle on their coral hosts, dropping out of the water column when they detect a certain chemical cue ("inducer") from the coral. You can read more about that in this study from Koehl et al. (2007): doi.org/10.3354/meps... (Open Access)
Figure from Koehl et al. 2007 showing a laser-illuminated slice through a dye cloud (analogue for odor) released from corals into wave-driven water flow above a reef; inset: larva of Phestilla sibogae. Photos: Matthew Reidenbach & Jeffrey Koseff (laser image), Michael Hadfield (inset)
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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
This is Tenellia lugubris, a specialist nudibranch (sea slug) that lives on and eats only corals in the genus Porites. They are colored and textured to match their hosts and mostly hide under corals during the day, crawling out to feed on the corals at night.
A semi-transparent juvenile nudibranch with oversized, darkly-pigmented cerata on a pale background
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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Coral bleaching is obviously bad for corals, but what about the things that eat corals? My second dissertation chapter is out now (Open Access, doi.org/10.3354/meps...) and asks how specialist coral-eating nudibranchs find the right corals, if they avoid bleached corals, and whether they should. 🧵
A fuzzy-looking adult nudibranch with a pale body and dark brown cerata crawls on a now-dead Porites rus coral fragment. The coral fragment is also occupied by several pale, rosette-shaped egg masses from the nudibranch. 
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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
I'm thrilled to announce (over a month late!) that after successfully defending my PhD at Georgia Tech this spring, I've started a postdoc position in the Byers lab at @ugaecology.bsky.social. I'll be looking at how life history traits affect marine species distributions!
A white woman with short hair and a blue and gold doctoral graduation robe and cap smiles and looks off camera. Tech Tower is visible through the trees.
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Stephanie Bilodeau, PhD @stephbilodeau.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Today! #SICB2026
Stephanie, a white woman with short hair, smiles at the camera wearing a pink suit jacket with glittery crayfish
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