Meeting Abstract

P2.71  Jan. 5  Gill Slit Kinematics During Ventilation and Feeding in Bamboo Sharks KARCH, A.P.*; DOLCE, J.L.; WILGA, C.D.; Univ. of Rhode Island akarch@mail.uri.edu

Feeding and ventilation are behaviors that are critical to individual survival. Aquatic vertebrates use the same cranial structures to ventilate and feed resulting in diverse functional demands on shared structures. Thus, effective coordination of shared structures between the two behaviors is essential. Few studies have investigated the coordination of feeding and ventilation in non-filter feeding aquatic vertebrates. In this study, ventilation at rest is compared to that during feeding in white-spotted bamboo sharks. The time and magnitude of mouth and gill slit movements are quantified using video recordings of resting ventilation and prey capture. In resting ventilation, all gill slits open shortly after peak gape. Gill slit five closes at jaw closure while slits one to four close shortly thereafter. The mouth, gill slits one and five have similar opening widths while slits two to four are larger. During feeding, gill slits one, two, and three open shortly before peak gape and close slightly after. Gill slit four opens just after peak gape and closes shortly after mouth closure. Gill slit five opens after mouth closure and remains open well after the other slits have closed. Gill slits one to three have similar opening widths, with slit four opening moderately larger and slit five opening far greater. Thus, movement patterns of the gill slits differ between feeding and resting ventilation, indicating that functional demands are different between the two behaviors. Furthermore, not only are the temporal patterns of opening and closing different, as well as peak opening magnitudes, between ventilation at rest and that during feeding but they also differ among the five slits regardless of behavior. Functional roles vary among the gill slits by behavior in bamboo sharks and may be a consequence of a benthic lifestyle.