Meeting Abstract
Locomotion is essential to the survival and fitness of most animals. Detailed measures of locomotor performance, mechanics and physiology are generally obtained in the laboratory. To infer links between performance and fitness it is important that any performance measures are relevant to the repertoire of locomotor behaviors in the field. Bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) vary in phenotype and swimming performance with respect to their habitat type. It is currently unclear whether phenotypic and performance variation reflect habitat-related differences in locomotor behavior in the field. An array of underwater video cameras with overlapping fields of view was used to record the swimming behavior of bluegill sunfish in Lake Waban, MA, USA. This enabled reconstruction of the three-dimensional trajectories of individual fish and detailed measurements of swimming performance and kinematics. Routine swimming behavior typically consisted of station holding or low-speed maneuvering interspersed by bouts of higher speed swimming. Low-speed maneuvering was powered primarily by the pectoral fins and higher speed swimming by the body and caudal fins. Speeds varied widely within and between individuals with limited evidence for a preferred swimming speed or speeds. The observed behaviors will be used to inform the development of laboratory based measures of bluegill swimming performance that are relevant to field behavior and fitness, and to test for habitat-related differences in locomotor repertoires.
