Prey Capture in Actinopterygian Fishes: A Review of Suction Feeding Motor Patterns with New Evidence from an Elopomorph Fish, Megalops atlanticus1

Abstract

Abstract Suction feeding is recognized as the dominant mode of aquatic prey capture in fishes. While much work has been done identifying motor pattern variations of this behavior among diverse groups of actinopterygian fishes, many ray-finned groups are still not represented. Further, the substantial amount of inherent variation in electromyography makes much of the pioneering work of suction feeding motor patterns in several basal groups insufficient for evolutionary comparisons. Robust evolutionary comparisons have identified conserved qualitative traits in the order of muscle activation during suction feeding (jaw opening > buccal cavity expansion > jaw closing). However, quantitative traits of suction motor patterns (i.e., burst durations and relative onset times) have changed over evolutionary time among actinopterygian fishes. Finally, new motor pattern evidence is presented from a previously neglected group, the Elopomorpha. The results suggest that future investigations of the muscles influencing ...