Inter-Research > AB > v9 > n2 > p149-153  
AB
Aquatic Biology


via Mailchimp

AB 9:149-153 (2010)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00237

Functional morphology of the flounder allows stable and efficient gliding: an integrated analysis of swimming behaviour

Tsutomu Takagi1,*, Ryo Kawabe2, Hiroyuki Yoshino3, Yasuhiko Naito4

1Faculty of Agriculture, Kinki University, Nara 631-8505, Japan
2Institute for East China Sea Research Centre, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki 851-2213, Japan
3Hokkaido Industrial Technology Centre, Hakodate 041-0801, Japan
4National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo 173-8515, Japan

ABSTRACT: Although technologies such as archival tags have been developed to monitor the behaviour of free-swimming fish, more advanced techniques are required in order to understand the basis of their behaviour. To assess the glide behaviour of the negatively buoyant Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus, we adopted a new approach to examine the importance of the physical aspects of its swimming performance by integrating in situ bio-logging data from free-swimming fish with corresponding computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses. Field data from the data loggers revealed that flounder commenced powerless glides after swimming upwards. A theoretical simulation of this glide using CFD analysis revealed that the body angle producing the maximum lift/drag ratio was in agreement with the field data and that, during a glide, the moment equilibrium body angle of the flounder resulted in the longest glide distance. This suggests that the morphology of the flounder confers stability on its glide, making this mode of movement more energetically efficient.


KEY WORDS: Flounder · Behaviour · Biomechanics · Morphology · Glide · Bio-logging · CFD · Computational fluid dynamics


Full text in pdf format
Supplementary material
Cite this article as: Takagi T, Kawabe R, Yoshino H, Naito Y (2010) Functional morphology of the flounder allows stable and efficient gliding: an integrated analysis of swimming behaviour. Aquat Biol 9:149-153. https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00237

Export citation
Share:    Facebook - - linkedIn

 Previous article Next article