Meeting Abstract
During suction feeding, many fishes use their epaxial muscles to generate a substantial amount of power to produce cranial elevation. When the muscles contract they reduce the angle between the head and body, causing the axial skeleton to bend dorsoventrally. Without axial bending, cranial elevation would be limited and feeding performance would decrease. The goal of this study is to locate where the vertebral column bends during suction feeding and relate this to the axial morphology of different species. We collected and analyzed live feeding data from three species (largemouth bass, pacific staghorn sculpin, and striped surfperch) using 3D animation techniques. CT scans were also analyzed with a focus on the shapes and spacing of the vertebrae, neural spines, and pterygiophores. Each of the three species had unique axial skeletons comprising differently shaped and spaced vertebrae, neural spines, and pterygiophores. We hypothesized that the axis of rotation for each species is located in the anterior-most region of the vertebral column, specifically between the vertebrae with the greatest space between the neural spines and pterygiophores. Preliminary data suggest that bending at the intervertebral joints (IVJs) is fairly consistent within a species, although different species bend at different IVJs. Given the great deal of interspecific variation of the axial skeleton, it is important to investigate the role of these different morphologies in suction feeding.
