Meeting Abstract
Suction feeders generate a flow of water into their mouth with a rapid and highly coordinated movement of multiple muscle and skeletal elements in the jaw. Successful prey capture is dependent on the fluid flow and the predator is able to control and modulate aspects of the fluid flow through skeletal mechanics. Hydrodynamic forces primarily cause the forces resisting skeletal movement and associated mouth opening. A model of the skeletal mechanics and their relation to fluid mechanics is key to a full understanding of suction feeding performance. Despite this obvious relationship between the musculoskeletal movement and generated fluid flow, functional models of the feeding within the fish are relatively simple and not generally not complete or predictive of suction performance. This talk summarizes the recent history, current state, and potential future of mechanical models of suction feeding. This includes: 1) Heuristic explanations of musculoskeletal mechanics, 2) Application of mechanical advantage from levers and four bar linkages to predict jaw opening speed, 3) Suction Index as a model to predict pressure based on musculoskeletal morphology, 4) Numerical modeling of multiple skeletal and muscle models, and 5) the potential utility of physical models of suction feeding.
