Fish Locomotion

Swimming by Fishes
 Most economical
form of movement
by animals
 Bouyed by water
 No energy needed
to counter gravity
Swimming by Fishes
 Squirrel - 1 km walk
- 5.43 kcal
 Gull - 1 km flight -
1.45 kcal
 Salmon - 1 km swim
- 0.39 kcal
 3 types of swimming

 Sustained swimming - slow

 Burst swimming - fast
 Prolonged swimming - medium
 3 types of swimming

 Sustained swimming - slow - 6-7 body lengths per

second
 Foraging over large areas, long-distance migrations
 Aerobic - no oxygen debt
 3 types of swimming

 Burst swimming - fast - up to 20 body lengths per

second
 Escaping predators, capturing prey, swimming
against currents
 Anaerobic - oxygen debt
 3 types of swimming

 Prolonged swimming - intermediate - ~ 10 body

lengths per second
 Used as situation demands
 Aerobic and anaerobic
 Locomotion
 Most locomotion
accomplished
through use of
caudal fin
 Fastest fish -
barracuda - 27 mph
 Locomotion
 Propulsive muscles
along side of fish are
W-shaped
myomeres
(myotomes)
 Locomotion
 Moves by contraction
waves of myomeres
moving posterior along
one side
 Creates sinusoidal
movement of body by
alternating contractions
on one side of body,
then the other
 Fish Locomotion
 Primary forces involved in fish
swimming:
 Thrust - force that propels forward
 Drag - friction produced from passing an
object through a medium
 Gravity – force from earth’s magnetic pull
(partially counterbalanced by density of
water)
 Lift - upward force that counteracts gravity
Swimming Styles - Thrust Generation
 Body waves – Anguilliform

 Partial body waves – (Sub)Carangiform

 Caudal peduncle/fin beats – Ostraciform

 Medial fin waves - Amiiform

 Pectoral fin beats -Labriform

 Swimming Styles
Body waves
Anguilliform (eel-like)

Lateral curvature in spine and

musculature that moves in a
posterior direction

Start: lateral displacement

of head, and then passage of
this displacement along the
body axis to the tail
Result: backward-
facing “wall” of body
pushing against the
water
 Swimming Styles
Partial body waves
(Sub) Carangiform, Thunniform (tuna-like)
Body wave begins posterior to head and increases with
amplitude as it moves posteriorly

Reduced drag compared to full body wave swimming

Wave STARTS at the caudal peducle (deeply forked,

lunate)
 Swimming Styles
Caudal peduncle/fin beats
Ostraciform (boxfish-like and puffer-like)

Sculling action of caudal fin—like rowing

No body waves - body remains rigid - useful for odd-

shaped fishes
 Swimming Styles
Medial fin waves
Amiiform - bowfin-like
Body rigid, but medial fins generate posterior waves
(forward) or anterior (reverse)

Good for stalking or moving without disrupting body

musculature that serves as electric organ (knifefish)

Also used for sculling - triggerfish & others

 Swimming Styles
Pectoral fin beats
Labriform
wrasse-like

Similar to rowing
laterally-positioned
pectoral fins- often includes
feathering as well
Especially useful for fine maneuvering
e.g. by deep-bodied fishes
 Locomotion video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70-G1eEZC_o
 Drag Reduction Features in
Fish
 Fusiform body shape
 Reduction of body wave amplitude
 Reduction of fin surface area:
 caudal fin (forked, lunate)
 paired and medial fins
 Boundary layer modifications
 mucous
 laminar jets of water
 microprojections
 Fusiform body shape
 pointed leading edge
 maximum depth 1/3 body length back
from head
 posterior taper
 “propeller” (caudal fin) interrupts
perfect fusiform shape
 Body wave modifications
 Minimize lateral movement of head to reduce
drag - subcarangiform
 Increase amplitude as wave moves in
posterior direction
 Ultimate expression involves no body waves,
but alternate contraction and transfer of body
musculature energy to caudal peduncle and
caudal fin - thunniform
 Fin surface area reduction
 Area of fins increases drag
 Permanent design modifications: forked caudal fins,
reduced length of medial fins
 Adjustable design modifications: variable erection of
fins - allows for minimizing surface area when fin is
not needed for thrust or turning - ultimate
expression: fairings in tunas (dorsal and pectoral fin
pockets)
Boundary layer modification
 Layer of water immediately adjacent to skin causes
most of friction - boundary layer
 Thickness of boundary layer is proportional to
amount of friction
 Three approaches to reducing thickness of boundary
layer:
 smoothing it - making it “slicker”
 roughing it - giving it tiny disruptions (golfers
learned from sharks??)
 shortening it - reducing distance of contact
 Boundary Layer, continued
 Fluid jets - from gill chamber and out operculum or in
micropockets behind and beneath scales
 Mucous - slime adds to “slipperiness”, can reduce
drag by up to 65%
 Microprojections - disrupt boundary layer so it cannot
grow:
 ctenae
 placoid tips
 Buoyancy Control in Fishes
 Dynamic lift: generated by propelling a hydrofoil
forward at an inclined angle of attack

 Static lift: generated by including low-density

substances and reducing mass of high density
substances in body.
 Dynamic Lift
 Hydrofoils: fish use their fusiform body and some use
their pectoral fins as hydrofoils
 Amount of lift is determined by: angle of attack and
speed of propulsion
 Ultimate expression of this is in pelagic rovers -
tunas, mackerel sharks
 head, pectoral fins and peduncle keels all used as
hydrofoils
 swim constantly
 Static Lift
 Reduction of high density substances:
 cartilage less dense than bone
 use design features in bone that increase strength
while reducing mass of bone
 Inclusion of low-density fluids
 lipids - squalene in sharks (sp. grav. = 0.86)
 stored in liver
 gases - in swim bladder
 only in bony fishes
Swim bladders
 Gas-filled “appendix” to the anterior
digestive system - dorsal to abdominal
organs
 Two types of swim bladders:
 physostomous - pneumatic duct connects
swim bladder to esophagous
 physoclistous - no connection between
swim bladder and gut