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Stin V, Godoy-Diana R, Bonnet X, Herrel A. Form and function of anguilliform swimming. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024. [PMID: 39004428 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2024] [Revised: 06/18/2024] [Accepted: 06/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/16/2024]
Abstract
Anguilliform swimmers are long and narrow animals that propel themselves by undulating their bodies. Observations in nature and recent investigations suggest that anguilliform swimming is highly efficient. However, understanding the underlying reasons for the efficiency of this type of locomotion requires interdisciplinary studies spanning from biology to hydrodynamics. Regrettably, these different fields are rarely discussed together, which hinders our ability to understand the repeated evolution of this swimming mode in vertebrates. This review compiles the current knowledge of the anatomical features that drive anguilliform swimming, compares the resulting kinematics across a wide range of anguilliform swimmers, and describes the resulting hydrodynamic interactions using data from both in vivo experiments and computational studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent Stin
- UMR 7636, PMMH, CNRS, ESPCI Paris-PSL, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, 7 Quai Saint-Bernard, Paris, 75005, France
- Département Adaptation du Vivant, UMR 7179 MECADEV, MNHN/CNRS, 43 rue Buffon, Paris, 75005, France
| | - Ramiro Godoy-Diana
- UMR 7636, PMMH, CNRS, ESPCI Paris-PSL, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, 7 Quai Saint-Bernard, Paris, 75005, France
| | - Xavier Bonnet
- UMR 7372 Centre d'Etude Biologique de Chizé, CNRS, 405 Route de Prissé la Charrière, Villiers-en-Bois, 79360, France
| | - Anthony Herrel
- Département Adaptation du Vivant, UMR 7179 MECADEV, MNHN/CNRS, 43 rue Buffon, Paris, 75005, France
- Department of Biology, Evolutionary Morphology of Vertebrates, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, Ghent, 9000, Belgium
- Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, Wilrijk, 2610, Belgium
- Naturhistorisches Museum Bern, Bernastrasse 15, Bern, 3005, Switzerland
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Kohannim S, Iwasaki T. Analytical insights into optimality and resonance in fish swimming. J R Soc Interface 2014; 11:20131073. [PMID: 24430125 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2013.1073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper provides analytical insights into the hypothesis that fish exploit resonance to reduce the mechanical cost of swimming. A simple body-fluid fish model, representing carangiform locomotion, is developed. Steady swimming at various speeds is analysed using optimal gait theory by minimizing bending moment over tail movements and stiffness, and the results are shown to match with data from observed swimming. Our analysis indicates the following: thrust-drag balance leads to the Strouhal number being predetermined based on the drag coefficient and the ratio of wetted body area to cross-sectional area of accelerated fluid. Muscle tension is reduced when undulation frequency matches resonance frequency, which maximizes the ratio of tail-tip velocity to bending moment. Finally, hydrodynamic resonance determines tail-beat frequency, whereas muscle stiffness is actively adjusted, so that overall body-fluid resonance is exploited.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saba Kohannim
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California Los Angeles, , 420 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
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Abstract
Owing to the complexity of neuronal circuits, precise mathematical descriptions of brain functions remain an elusive ambition. A more modest focus of many neuroscientists, central pattern generators, are more tractable neuronal circuits specialized to generate rhythmic movements, including locomotion. The relative simplicity and well-defined motor functions of these circuits provide an opportunity for uncovering fundamental principles of neuronal information processing. Here we present the culmination of mathematical analysis that captures the adaptive behaviors emerging from interactions between a central pattern generator, the body, and the physical environment during locomotion. The biologically realistic model describes the undulatory motions of swimming leeches with quantitative accuracy and, without further parameter tuning, predicts the sweeping changes in oscillation patterns of leeches undulating in air or swimming in high-viscosity fluid. The study demonstrates that central pattern generators are capable of adapting oscillations to the environment through sensory feedback, but without guidance from the brain.
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Miller LA, Goldman DI, Hedrick TL, Tytell ED, Wang ZJ, Yen J, Alben S. Using computational and mechanical models to study animal locomotion. Integr Comp Biol 2012; 52:553-75. [PMID: 22988026 PMCID: PMC3475976 DOI: 10.1093/icb/ics115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent advances in computational methods have made realistic large-scale simulations of animal locomotion possible. This has resulted in numerous mathematical and computational studies of animal movement through fluids and over substrates with the purpose of better understanding organisms' performance and improving the design of vehicles moving through air and water and on land. This work has also motivated the development of improved numerical methods and modeling techniques for animal locomotion that is characterized by the interactions of fluids, substrates, and structures. Despite the large body of recent work in this area, the application of mathematical and numerical methods to improve our understanding of organisms in the context of their environment and physiology has remained relatively unexplored. Nature has evolved a wide variety of fascinating mechanisms of locomotion that exploit the properties of complex materials and fluids, but only recently are the mathematical, computational, and robotic tools available to rigorously compare the relative advantages and disadvantages of different methods of locomotion in variable environments. Similarly, advances in computational physiology have only recently allowed investigators to explore how changes at the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels might lead to changes in performance at the organismal level. In this article, we highlight recent examples of how computational, mathematical, and experimental tools can be combined to ultimately answer the questions posed in one of the grand challenges in organismal biology: "Integrating living and physical systems."
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura A Miller
- Department of Mathematic, Phillips Hall, CB #3250, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280, USA.
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