Meeting Abstract
The ability to bury in sediment has evolved numerous times throughout the actinopterygian phylogeny. Each group that adopts this behavior must co-opt existing structures, leading to a variety of burial strategies. The majority of burying fishes fluidize sediment by injecting water into the substrate, but the structures involved and how they are used varies widely across groups. In this study, we used high speed video and intracranial pressure recordings to document the use of gill chamber pumping, in coordination with body and fin movements, in two highly disparate species: Isopsetta isolepis (a flatfish) and Leptocottus armatus (a sculpin). Like all flatfishes, I. isolepis has two eyes on one side of its head, and it lays on its lateral surface, with the blind-side gill chamber contacting the substrate and the eyed-side gill chamber pointing upward. In coordination lateral body undulations, I. isolepis passes water out of the blind-side gill opening to fluidize sand, which is facilitated by an anatomical shunt between the eyed and blind-side gill chambers. In contrast, L. armatus is a dorsoventrally compressed sculpin. In coordination with dorsoventral undulation and fin movements, L. armatus uses its left and right gill chambers simultaneously to fluidize sand. The flatfish approach is substantially faster than the sculpin approach, although both strategies are highly effective.
