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Journal of Experimental Biology 148,449-459 (1990)
Published by Company of Biologists 1990

Backbone Mechanics of the Blue Marlin Makaira Nigricans (Pisces, Istiophoridae)

JOHN H. HEBRANK ¹, MARY R. HEBRANK ², JOHN H. LONG JR ², BARBARA A. BLOCK ³, and STEPHEN A. WRIGHT ²

¹ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, PO Box 7910, North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
² Zoology Department, Duke University Durham, NC 27706, USA
³ Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago Chicago, IL 60637, USA

Over most of its length, the backbone of the blue marlin, like that of all other istiophorids, contains enlarged and flattened neural and hemal spines and zygapophyses, all of which span the intervertebral joints. These plates of bone restrict dorso-ventral bending of the backbone but their arrangement permits a high degree of lateral flexion. The spinesand zygapophyses also appear to be important in stabilizing the relatively large intervertebral joints against axial compression and lateral shearing during bending. Although bone is an elastic material, these overlapping structures are not arranged so as to contribute to elastic recoil of the backbone during normal swimming movements.

Key words: backbone, mechanics, blue marlin, Makaira nigricans

Accepted on October 9, 1989

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