Meeting Abstract

P1.45  Sunday, Jan. 4  The unsteady flow sensed by larval zebrafish STEWART, W.J.*; MCHENRY, M.J.; Univ. of California, Irvine; Univ. of California, Irvine wstewart@uci.edu

The ability to detect the water flow generated by a predator can be essential to the survival of a larval fish. However, it is not well understood what flow stimuli a larval fish detects before triggering an escape response. Therefore, we experimentally investigated the hydrodynamics of a larval zebrafish’s (Danio rerio) body during capture in tethered larvae within a flow tank specialized for creating the impulsive flow generated by a feeding predator. We measured the boundary layers generated by this flow with particle tracking velocimetry (PTV). Preliminary data show that the boundary layer along the fish body extends to about twice the height of flow-sensitive lateral line receptors. This suggests that the boundary layer attenuates the flow stimulus created by a fish predator and thereby hinders their ability to evade capture.