Meeting Abstract

17.4  Tuesday, Jan. 4  The material properties of the intestinal tissue in the shiner perch, Cymatogaster aggregata HORTON, Jaquan M.*; GOSLINE, John M.; CARRINGTON, Emily; University of Washington; University of Washington; University of British Columbia jmhorton@uw.edu

Durophagous fishes are predators that specialize in eating hard prey, mainly by crushing the shells of mollusks and crustaceans. Although several jaw mechanisms and morphologies that enable fish to consume hard prey have been investigated (e.g. dentition specializations, pharyngeal jaws), few have examined the effects of hard prey consumption on visceral tissues, where foreign bodies (i.e. indigestible shell shard, or exoskeletal fragments) passing through the gut can cause mechanical damage to the alimentary tract. In this study, the intestines of four Cymatogaster aggregata were inflated using with a custom pressure system to examine tissue mechanical properties. The results of the stress-strain curves show that both extensibility and the maximal extension ratio of the inner lumen (which provides an indication of the maximum unit size that can travel down the intestine) decreased along the length of the tube, 65% and 33%, respectively; however, stiffness increases distally. This work offers insight into the material properties of intestinal tissues in teleost fishes that lack true stomachs. Future work will focus on understanding the properties of alimentary tissues with regards to trophic diversity, as well as ontogeny.