Intermittent swimming and muscle power output in brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis
Slow and sustainable intermittent swimming has recently been described in several Centrarchid fishes, such as bluegill and largemouth bass. This swimming behavior involves short periods of body‐caudal fin undulation alternating with variable periods of coasting. This aerobic muscle powered swimming...
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| Published in: | Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology Vol. 341; no. 8; pp. 896 - 902 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
United States
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
01-10-2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Slow and sustainable intermittent swimming has recently been described in several Centrarchid fishes, such as bluegill and largemouth bass. This swimming behavior involves short periods of body‐caudal fin undulation alternating with variable periods of coasting. This aerobic muscle powered swimming appears to reduce energetic costs for slow, sustainable swimming, with fish employing a “fixed‐gear” or constant tailbeat frequency and modulating swimming speed by altering the length of the coasting period. We asked if this swimming behavior was found in other fish species by examining volitional swimming by brook trout in a static swimming tank. Further, we employed muscle mechanics experiments to explore how intermittent swimming affects muscle power output in comparison to steady swimming behavior. Brook trout regularly employ an intermittent swimming form when allowed to swim volitionally, and consistently showed a tailbeat frequency of ~2 Hz. Coasting duration had a significant, inverse relationship to swimming speed. Across a range of slow, sustainable swimming speeds, tailbeat frequency increased modestly with speed. The duration of periods of coasting decreased significantly with increasing speed. Workloop experiments suggest that intermittent swimming reduces fatigue, allowing fish to maintain high power output for longer compared to continuous activity. This study expands the list of species that employ intermittent swimming, suggesting this behavior is a general feature of fishes.
Research Highlights
This is the first analysis of muscle function during intermittent swimming in a salmonid. Intermittent muscle activity reduces fatigue during extended bouts of aerobic, sustained swimming.
This is the first analysis of muscle function during intermittent swimming in a salmonid. Intermittent muscle activity reduces fatigue during extended bouts of aerobic, sustained swimming. |
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| Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
| ISSN: | 2471-5638 2471-5646 2471-5646 |
| DOI: | 10.1002/jez.2844 |