QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JEB Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Katz, S. L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Katz, S. L.

The Journal of Experimental Biology 205, 2251-2266 (2002)
© 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited

Review

Design of heterothermic muscle in fish

Stephen L. Katz

Northwest Fisheries Sciences Center, National Marine Fisheries Services — NOAA, 2725 Montlake Boulevard E., Seattle, WA 98112, USA

e-mail: steve.katz{at}noaa.gov

Accepted 13 May 2002

Among the tremendous diversity of fish, there are a small number that are considered elite in their swimming performance. These include representatives from the tunas, billfish and sharks. In addition to being elite swimmers, these fish share numerous specialized anatomical features including the structure of their swimming muscles and some form of regional endothermy, termed heterothermy. These heterothermies fall into two classes: those that maintain elevated temperatures in swimming muscles and those that have muscle-derived tissues specialized for delivering warm blood to the brain. Because these versions of heterothermy are manifest in fish whose swimming performance is considered elite, it has been parsimonious to hypothesize that heterothermy is part of an integrated high-performance design. Recognizing that the design of skeletal muscle is hierarchical, the design of heterothermic muscle in fish will be examined within a hierarchical framework. This paper will examine, in order, the specific anatomical specializations, the performance of muscle as a biomaterial and then as a dynamic mechanical structure or device — in each case looking at the extent to which heterothermy is part of an integrated high-performance design or is perhaps just a happy accident. This examination will reveal how difficult it is to make a case for the central importance of heterothermy in the design of these swimming muscle systems.

Key words: fish, swimming, biomechanics, evolution, heterothermy, muscle

Related articles in JEB:

Muscles Function, Whatever the Temperature

Kathryn Phillips
JEB 2002 205: i. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. E. Shadwick and D. A. Syme Thunniform swimming: muscle dynamics and mechanical power production of aerobic fibres in yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) J. Exp. Biol., May 15, 2008; 211(10): 1603 - 1611. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Malte, C. Larsen, M. Musyl, and R. Brill Differential heating and cooling rates in bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus Lowe): a model of non-steady state heat exchange J. Exp. Biol., August 1, 2007; 210(15): 2618 - 2626. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. D. Clark and R. S. Seymour Cardiorespiratory physiology and swimming energetics of a high-energy-demand teleost, the yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi) J. Exp. Biol., October 1, 2006; 209(19): 3940 - 3951. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. M. Donley, R. E. Shadwick, C. A. Sepulveda, P. Konstantinidis, and S. Gemballa Patterns of red muscle strain/activation and body kinematics during steady swimming in a lamnid shark, the shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) J. Exp. Biol., June 15, 2005; 208(12): 2377 - 2387. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Bernal, C. Sepulveda, O. Mathieu-Costello, and J. B. Graham Comparative studies of high performance swimming in sharks I. Red muscle morphometrics, vascularization and ultrastructure J. Exp. Biol., August 15, 2003; 206(16): 2831 - 2843. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]