SCHOENFUSS, H.L.*; BLOB, R.W.: Kinematics of vertical climbing in Hawaiian freshwater gobies The Hawaiian freshwater ecosystem includes three species of waterfall climbing gobies. Larvae of these species are washed into the ocean by currents upon hatching, return to freshwater 3 to 6 months posthatching, and then climb waterfalls (up to 350 m vertically for Lentipes […]

AZIZI, E.*; LANDBERG, T.; BRAINERD, E.L.: Kinematics and Performance of the Escape Response in an Aquatic Salamander, Eurycea bislineata. Despite the large body of information on the aquatic escape response of fishes, the kinematics and neurobiology of fast-starts in salamanders remain poorly understood. We examine the effect of ontogenetic changes in morphology on escape performance […]

Nauwelaerts, S.*; Aerts, P.: Gait patterns in frog locomotion: why use alternate-leg swimming? During terrestrial locomotion, frogs use two different gaits: asynchronous leg movements associated with slow crawling bahaviour and synchronous leg movements during fast jumps. In Rana esculenta crawling occurs during feeding, while jumping is used as an escape strategy. We examined whether a […]

PACE, C.M.*; BLOB, R.W.; WESTNEAT, M.W.: Comparative kinematics of the forelimb during swimming in red-eared slider and spiny softshell turtles. In freshwater turtles the hindlimb typically has been viewed as the primary propulsive organ during swimming. However, in highly aquatic softshell turtles, extensive webbing is present between the digits of the hand as well as […]

MOTANI, R.: Using models of extant swimmers to infer aspects of locomotion in thunniform ichthyosaurs. Studying the functional morphology of extinct vertebrates poses challenges because only fossil remains are available. Robust correlations among certain physical, physiological, or kinematic variables in extant vertebrates can help infer functional parameters of extinct animals. I present a case where […]

Castro-Santos, T.*; Haro, A.: Optimal sprint speeds of fish traversing velocity barriers: further thoughts on burst-swimming data. Migrating fish traversing velocity barriers are often forced to swim at speeds greater than Ucrit. Since prolonged and burst-swimming are powered by inefficient anaerobic metabolic processes, models predicting optimal swim speeds based on maximized energetic efficiency are inappropriate […]

WESTNEAT, M.W.*: Mechanical design for swimming in big fish: Locomotor function in tunas and relatives. The axial morphology of big marine fishes is a mechanical system specialized for both high performance swimming and long-distance cruising. The axial musculature, connective tissues, and skeleton of tunas, mackerels, billfishes and their relatives exhibit modifications of the basic actinopterygian […]

SYME, D.A.*; SHADWICK, R.E.: Mechanical Power Production by Internal Red Muscle at Different Longitudinal Body Positions in Skipjack Tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) in Relation to Swimming The work loop technique was used to study power output by internal red muscle from skipjack tuna, to understandthe primary function of this muscle in swimming, how different strain amplitudes […]

WILGA, C.D.*; LAUDER, G.V.: Function of the heterocercal tail in sharks: quantitative wake dynamics during steady horizontal swimming and vertical maneuvering. The function of the heterocercal tail in sharks has long been debated in the literature. Previous kinematic data have supported the classical theory which proposes that the beating of the heterocercal caudal fin during […]

ROSENBERGER, L.* J.; WALKER, J. A.; COLLAR, D.; WESTNEAT, M. W.: Effects of fin shape and fin motion on labriform swimming performance Labriform locomotion in fishes is performed by either rowing or flapping the pectoral fins. In this study, we tested a priori hypotheses of causal associations between fin shape, fin kinematics, and swimming performance […]