Tail Beat Amplitude Research Articles

The Effect Of Solid And Porous Channel Walls On Steady Swimming Of Steelhead Trout Oncorhynchus Mykiss

ABSTRACT Kinematics and steady swimming performance were recorded for steelhead trout (approximately 12.2cm in total length) swimming in channels 4.5, 3 and 1.6cm wide in the centre of a flume 15cm wide. Channel walls were solid or porous. Tail-beat depth and the length of the propulsive wave were not affected by spacing of either solid or porous walls. The product of tail-beat frequency, F, and amplitude, H, was related to swimming speed, u, and to harmonic mean distance of the tail from the wall, z. For solid walls: and for grid walls: where ±2 S.E. are shown for regression coefficients. Thus, rates of working were smaller for fish swimming between solid walls, but the reduction due to wall effects decreased with increasing swimming speed. Porous grid walls had less effect on kinematics, except at low swimming speeds. Spacing of solid walls did not affect maximum tail-beat frequency, but maximum tail-beat amplitude decreased with smaller wall widths. Maximum tail-beat amplitude similarly decreased with spacing between grid walls, but maximum tail-beat frequency increased. Walls also reduced maximum swimming speed. Wall effects have not been adequately taken into account in most studies of fish swimming in flumes and fish wheels.

The Effect of Temperature on the Burst Swimming Performance of Fish Larvae

ABSTRACT Newly hatched herring and plaice larvae were stimulated by probes to make C-start escape responses at temperatures between 5 and 15°C. The responses and the subsequent burst-speed swimming were recorded and analysed using highspeed video at 400 frames s−1. The muscle contraction time of the initial C-start was temperature-dependent, ranging from 22–33 ms at 5°C to 17–21 ms at 15°C. Immediately following the C-start, tail-beat frequency ranged from 18s−1 at 5°C to 35 s−1 at 15°C. Tail-beat amplitude, equivalent to 0.4–0.6 of a body length (L), and stride length, about 0.5 L, were not temperature-dependent. The escape speed ranged from 8Ls−1 at 5°C to 15 Ls−1 at 15°C. These results and those of other workers can be described by the equation: where f is tail-beat frequency, t is temperature and L is length.

Composition and Mechanics of Routine Swimming of Rainbow Trout,Oncorhynchus mykiss

Routine swimming encompasses all volitional motions of fish. It is usually assumed to be quasi-steady, i.e. routine swimming is mechanically equivalent to steady swimming. Routine swimming of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, was dominated by unsteady motions of linear and centripetal (angular) acceleration. Constant-speed swimming was rare. Mean speeds and acceleration rates were small. Tail-beat frequencies were nevertheless strongly correlated with mean swimming speed, but increased more rapidly with increasing speed in routine swimming than in steady swimming. Tail-beat amplitudes and propulsive wavelengths were similar to values seen in steady swimming. The composition of routine swimming and analysis of the force balance showed that routine swimming was not quasi-steady. Therefore, forces and rates of working should be estimated from a complete description of whole-body deformation. This is impractical. Drag dominated resistance in routine swimming, such that average thrust (= resistance) may be computed from mean speed and/or averaged kinematic variables for the trailing edge with a correction factor of approximately 3. Analysis of routine swimming may permit comparisons among a wider range of vertebrates than possible with commonly used methods.

The Influence of Temperature on Muscle Velocity and Sustained Performance in Swimming Carp

The aim of this study was to evaluate how fish locomote at different muscle temperatures. Sarcomere length excursion and muscle shortening velocity, V, were determined from high-speed motion pictures of carp, Cyprinus carpio (11-14 cm), swimming steadily at various sustained speeds at 10, 15 and 20 degrees C. In the middle and posterior regions of the carp, sarcomeres of the lateral red muscle underwent cyclical excursions of 0.31 microns, centered around the resting length of 2.06 microns (i.e. from 1.91 to 2.22 microns). The amplitudes of the sarcomere length excursions were essentially independent of swimming speed and temperature. As tail-beat frequency increased linearly with swimming speed regardless of temperature, the sarcomeres underwent the same length changes in a shorter time. Thus, V increased in a linear and temperature-independent manner with swimming speed. Neither temperature nor swimming speed had an influence on tail-beat amplitude or tail height. Our findings indicate that muscle fibres are used only over a narrow, temperature-independent range of V/Vmax (0.17-0.36) where power and efficiency are maximal. Carp start to recruit their white muscles at swimming speeds where the red muscle V/Vmax becomes too high (and thus power output declines). When the V/Vmax of the active muscle falls too low during steady swimming, carp switch to 'burst-and-coast' swimming, apparently to keep V/Vmax high. Because Vmax (maximum velocity of shortening) of carp red muscle has a Q10 of 1.63, the transition speeds between swimming styles are lower at lower temperatures. Thus, carp recruit their white anaerobic muscle at a lower swimming speed at lower temperatures (verified by electromyography), resulting in a lower maximum sustainable swimming speed. The present findings also indicate that, to generate the same total force and power to swim at a given speed, carp at 10 degrees C must recruit about 50% greater fibre cross-sectional area than they do at 20 degrees C.

‘Steady’ Swimming Kinematics of Tiger Musky, an Esociform Accelerator, and Rainbow Trout, a Generalist Cruiser

ABSTRACTLocomotor kinematics of tiger musky (Esox sp.) and rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) were measured at ‘steady’ swimming speeds of up to 85 cm s−1. Tail beat frequencies of musky were approximately 2 Hz higher than those of trout at any swimming speed, but tail beat amplitudes were 0·04L (where L is total body length) smaller. The product of these two variables was similar for the two species at any speed. The length of the propulsive wave was independent of speed, and was 0·8L for musky, somewhat smaller than the value for trout, 0·9L. The depth of the caudal fin trailing edge of trout was greater than that of musky, but the greater depth of the posteriorly located median fins of musky also contributed to thrust production. The cosine of the angle of the trailing edge to its beat plane showed the same phase relationship with lateral displacement in both musky and trout. It increased with speed for both species, and values for musky were slightly smaller. Thrust power requirements of musky and trout were similar. Thrust (= drag) coefficients of musky were 1·55 times larger than those for trout: this is roughly as expected on the basis of the larger proportion of the total area of musky located caudally and the higher drag coefficients in this region of the body. Lateral recoil movements of musky were unexpectedly smaller than for trout and were associated with smaller energy wastage from undamped recoil movements. The large recoil expected for the body form of musky was damped to some extent by higher tail beat frequencies, although this entailed some loss in Froude efficiency. Otherwise, no hydrodynamic explanation for the small recoil movements of musky was apparent. It is suggested that the myotomal muscles could be involved in minimizing recoil. The esociform morphology incurs costs in steady swimming, in comparison with generalist cruises, because of reduced sprint speeds for fish of a given length or increased power requirements for fish of a given mass.

Sloughed mucus and drag-reduction in a school of Atlantic silversides, Menidia menidia

Atlantic silversides, Menidia menidia, were collected by seine-net from the Newport River estuary, North Carolina, USA and maintained in the laboratory. Direct measurement showed that the amount of mucus sloughed off individual silversides was 567 μg h-1 at a swimming speed of 50 cm s-1. Individual M. menidia were also allowed to swim in a flowtank filled with 0, 1, and 10 ppm of the synthetic drag-reducer Polyox to determine if any changes in tailbeat frequency or amplitude could be correlated with the level of this “sloughed” material. Tailbeat measurements between seawater controls and either Polyox concentration did not differ significantly. Calculations based on this evidence indicate that the amount of solubilized mucus sloughed off a school of 10 000 M. menidia would be at least two orders of magnitude less than the highest concentration of Polyox tested. We conclude that solubilized mucus in the water column does not confer drag-reduction to schooling M. menidia.

Kinematics of lake sturgeon, Acipenser fulvescens, at cruising speeds

Lake sturgeon, 15.7 cm in total length, have a 2-min critical swimming speed of 38.6 ± 4.2 cm∙s−1 (2.45 body lengths∙s−1) at 15 °C. Tail beat frequency (ƒ, Hz), amplitude (a, cm), and propulsive wavelength (λ, cm) increased linearly with swimming speed (U, cm∙s−1), according to the following equations: ƒ = 1.67 + 0.07 U, a = 3.2 + 0.020 U, and λ = 11.0 + 0.039 U. Tail depth and the cosine of the angle of the tail with the axis of motion were independent of swimming speed with mean values of 1.96 ± 0.08 cm and 0.7 ± 0.08, respectively. Swimming kinematics were generally similar to those of teleosts and anuran larvae, implying that body and caudal fin propulsive movements are conservative among actinopterygians and tetrapods. Swimming patterns did not provide for interactions between median fins that are considered to be important to shark swimming. The thrust generated by swimming sturgeon averages 82% that of trout of similar size, although the surface area of sturgeon is substantially lower. Therefore, drag per unit area of sturgeon is 3.5 times that of other actinopterygians, presumably because of the presence of scutes.

Doppler structure in echoes from schools of pelagic fish

The frequency distribution of energy in direct path echoes from three schools of pelagic fish is presented. One-half-second 30-kHz CW pulses were used to study motions internal to the fish schools from distances up to 1200 m. The measured Doppler spread of echo energy ranged from 30 Hz to 70 Hz. The Doppler spread-at-side aspect is related to swimming motions by a simple algebraic model based on Bainbridge's equation relating fish swimming speed, length, tail-beat amplitude, and tail-beat frequency. The mathematical model was used to estimate the length of the fish in two of the schools. These length estimates agree with average fish lengths derived from school cruising speeds. Near head or tail aspect, the observed Doppler structure appears to be related to behavioral swimming characteristics.

Doppler Structure in Echoes from Schools of Pelagic Fish

The frequency distribution of energy in direct path echoes from three schools of pelagic fish is presented. One-half-second 30-kHz CW pulses were used to study motions internal to the fish schools from distances up to 1200 m. The measured Doppler spread at side aspect is related to swimming motions by a simple algebraic model based on Bainbridge's equation relating fish swimming speed, length, tail-beat amplitude, and tail-beat frequency. The mathematical model was used to estimate the length of the fish in two of the schools. These length estimates agree with average fish lengths derived from school cruising speeds. Near head or tail aspect, the observed Doppler structure appears to be related to behaviorial swimming characteristics.

Effects of Partial Caudal-Fin Amputation on the Kinematics and Metabolic Rate of Underyearling Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus Nerka) At Steady Swimming Speeds

ABSTRACT Propulsive wavelength, tail-beat frequency, trailing-edge amplitude, critical swimming speed and oxygen consumption rates have been measured for sockeye salmon in which the trailing edge depth and caudal-fin area were variously reduced by partial caudal-fin amputation. The swimming mode was sub-carangiform. The 45 min critical swimming speed for intact fish was 61·6 cm/sec (3·0 l/sec). The critical speed was not significantly reduced by removal of either the epaxial or hypaxial caudal-fin lobes, but was reduced significantly (P < 0·05) to 51·8 cm/sec (2·5 l/sec) when both lobes were removed. The mean length of the propulsive wave was 1·00 body length, and was not affected by the caudal-fin surgery. Both tail-beat frequency and amplitude increased with speed, their product linearly so. Normalization of data in relation to the physiological maximum at the critical swimming speed showed no relative changes in frequency and amplitude. No significant differences were observed in standard or active metabolic rates. General equations describing thrust (Lighthill, 1969) and drag were compared. It was shown that the drag on the caudal fin was markedly increased by lateral propulsive movements as suggested by Bone ‘s boundary-layer thinning hypothesis (Lighthill, 1971). Drag coefficients for the caudal fin were one to two orders of magnitude higher than would be expected in the absence of lateral movements. It is considered that the principal function of the caudal fin is in manoeuvre and acceleration.

Tail beat frequency, amplitude, and swimming speed of a shark tracked by sector scanning sonar

Tail beat frequency, amplitude, and swimming speed of a shark tracked by sector scanning sonar Get access F. R. Harden Jones F. R. Harden Jones Fisheries LaboratoryLowestoft, England Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ICES Journal of Marine Science, Volume 35, Issue 1, June 1973, Pages 95–97, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/35.1.95 Published: 01 June 1973