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The Journal of Experimental Biology 205, 841-849 (2002)
© 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited

Effects of metamorphosis on the aquatic escape response of the two-lined salamander (Eurycea bislineata)

Emanuel Azizi1,* and Tobias Landberg2

1 Graduate Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and
2 Biology Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-9297, USA

*e-mail: mannya{at}bio.umass.edu

Accepted 4 January 2002

Although numerous studies have described the escape kinematics of fishes, little is known about the aquatic escape responses of salamanders. We compare the escape kinematics of larval and adult Eurycea bislineata, the two-lined salamander, to examine the effects of metamorphosis on aquatic escape performance. We hypothesize that shape changes associated with resorption of the larval tail fin at metamorphosis will affect aquatic locomotor performance. Escape responses were recorded using high-speed video, and the effects of life stage and total length on escape kinematics were analyzed statistically using analysis of covariance. Our results show that both larval and adult E. bislineata use a two-stage escape response (similar to the C-starts of fishes) that consists of a preparatory (stage 1) and a propulsive (stage 2) stroke. The duration of both kinematic stages and the distance traveled during stage 2 increased with total length. Both larval and adult E. bislineata had final escape trajectories that were directed away from the stimulus. The main kinematic difference between larvae and adults is that adults exhibit significantly greater maximum curvature during stage 1. Total escape duration and the distance traveled during stage 2 did not differ significantly between larvae and adults. Despite the significantly lower tail aspect ratio of adults, we found no significant decrease in the overall escape performance of adult E. bislineata. Our results suggest that adults may compensate for the decrease in tail aspect ratio by increasing their maximum curvature. These findings do not support the hypothesis that larvae exhibit better locomotor performance than adults as a result of stronger selective pressures on early life stages.

Movie available on-line: http://www.biologists.com/JEB/movies/jeb3978.html.

Key words: amphibian metamorphosis, salamander, escape response, kinematics, C-start, tail morphology, locomotion, swimming, Eurycea bislineata, Plethodontidae, Caudata.


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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2002