Fig. 3. Scaling of jaw kinematics for suction feeding bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus. (A) The time to peak gape (TTPG), defined as the time it took the fish to fully open its mouth (ms), was not significantly correlated with fish length. (B) The linear speed of mouth opening (G/t) was significantly correlated with standard length, and its scaling exponent was not significantly different from 1. The observed scaling of morphology and kinematics (buccal length, gape size and speed of mouth opening) was used to generate predictions for the scaling of flow speed (C) based on the Expanding Cone model (see eqn 3). Data are means ± s.e.m. (blue circles) or value of fastest speed observed (red circles). Slopes are for the regression of log-transformed mean values and standard length. N=9 fish, 7–30 strikes per fish.