In his memoirs, Trinkaus claimed that although he had learned about comparative anatomy and embryology in his college courses, the embryology course at the MBL provided him the opportunity to work with live embryos, developing before his eyes, about which he wrote: “I was excited by this prospect and enthralled by the beauty of these minute creatures” (Trinkaus 2003, 41). His favorite memory of that first summer at Woods Hole involved going out on the ocean to collect specimens, such as the worm, Alitta succinea. These trips were considered social events at the MBL, where students, assistants, and instructors would go collecting in the middle of the night, as some of the species were attracted to the surface of the water by the moonlight, and bring them back to the lab to collect gametes and observe fertilization. Trinkaus recalled many accidents occurring on the floating lab docks, which would end up with students losing their footing and toppling over into the water.
Trinkaus enjoyed his first summer at the MBL so much that, at the start of the academic year in the fall, he immediately began to plan his next summer at Woods Hole as a research assistant, with the intention of spending the entire summer at the Cape. Since that first summer in 1939, Trinkaus continued to make the trip to Woods Hole almost every summer for the rest of his life, eventually building his own home on F.R. Lillie Road.
- Atz, James W. "Fundulus heteroclitus in the laboratory: a history." American zoologist 26, no. 1 (1986): 111-120.
- Betchaku, Teiichi, and J. P. Trinkaus. “Programmed endocytosis during epiboly of Fundulus heteroclitus.” American zoologist 26, no. 1 (1986): 193-199.
- Davis, Edward M., and J. P. Trinkaus. "Significance of cell-to-cell contacts for the directional movement of neural crest cells within a hydrated collagen lattice." Journal of embryology and experimental morphology 63, no. 1 (1981): 29-51.
- DuPont, Ellen M. "John Philip Trinkaus (1918-2003)." Embryo Project Encyclopedia (2012).
- Goodrich, H. B., and J. P. Trinkaus. "The differential effect of radiations on mendelian phenotypes of the goldfish, Carassius auratus." The Biological Bulletin 77, no. 2 (1939): 192-199.
- Goodrich, H. B., and J. P. Trinkaus. "The differential effect of radiations on mendelian phenotypes of the goldfish, Carassius auratus." The Biological Bulletin 77, no. 2 (1939): 192-199.
- Goodrich, H. B., N. D. Josephson, J. P. Trinkaus, and Jeanne M. Slate. "The cellular expression and genetics of two new genes in Lebistes reticulatus." Genetics 29, no. 6 (1944): 584-592.
- Keller, Ray, Wallis H. Clark, and Frederick Griffin (Eds.) Gastrulation: Movements, Patterns, and Molecules. New York: Plenum Press, 1991.
- Kimmel, Charles B., and James A. Weston. "An overview of Trink's scientific accomplishments." Developmental Dynamics 228, no. 4 (2003): 586-587.
- Saunders, John W. "Trink, the man." Developmental Dynamics 228, no. 4 (2003): 588-590
- Schoenwolf, Gary C. "Trink: His life, his philosophy." Developmental Dynamics 228, no. 4 (2003): 591-593.
- Tickle, Cheryll A., and J. P. Trinkaus. "Change in surface extensibility of Fundulus deep cells during early development." Journal of cell science 13, no. 3 (1973): 721-726.
- Tickle, Cheryll A, and J. P. Trinkaus. "Observations on nudging cells in culture." Nature 261, no. 5559 (1976): 413-413.
- Trinkaus, J. Philip. "Factors concerned in the response of melanoblasts to estrogen in the Brown Leghorn fowl." Journal of Experimental Zoology 109, no. 1 (1948): 135-169.
- Trinkaus, John Philip. "The surface gel layer of Fundulus eggs in relation to epiboly." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 35, no. 4 (1949): 218.
- Trinkaus, John Philip. "A study of the mechanism of epiboly in the egg of Fundulus heteroclitus." Journal of Experimental Zoology 118, no. 2 (1951): 269-319.
- Trinkaus, John Philip. "The differentiation of tissue cells." American Naturalist (1956): 273-289.
- Trinkaus, John Philip. “Procurement, maintenance and use of Fundulus eggs,” Methods in Developmental Biology. F.H. Wells and N.K. Wessells (Eds.) Crowell, New York: 1967, 113-122.
- Trinkaus, J. P. "The cellular basis of Fundulus epiboly. Adhesivity of blastula and gastrula cells in culture." Developmental biology 7 (1963): 513-532.
- Trinkaus, J. P. "Surface activity and locomotion of Fundulus deep cells during blastula and gastrula stages." Developmental biology 30, no. 1 (1973): 68-103.
- Trinkaus, J. P. "Mechanism of Fundulus epiboly—a current view." America n Zoologist 24, no. 3 (1984): 673-688.
- Trinkaus, John Philip. Cells into organs: the forces that shape the embryo. (2nd Ed.) New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1984.
- Trinkaus, John Philip. “Directional cell movement during early development of the teleost Blennius Pholis. I. Formation of epithelial cell clusters and their pattern and mechanism of movement.” Journal of Experimental Zoology 245 (1988a): 157-186.
- Trinkaus, John Philip. “Directional cell movement during early development of the teleost Blennius Pholis. II. Transformation of the cells of epithelial clusters into dendritic melanocytes, their dissociation from each other, and their migration to and invasion of the pectoral fin buds.” Journal of Experimental Zoology 248 (1988b): 55-72.
- Trinkaus, John Philip. Embryologist: My Eight Decades in Developmental Biology. J&S Publishing Company, 2003
