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First published online August 14, 2009
Journal of Experimental Biology 212, 2731-2745 (2009)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2009
doi: 10.1242/jeb.026922

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Kinematics, hydrodynamics and force production of pleopods suggest jet-assisted walking in the American lobster (Homarus americanus)

Jeanette L. Lim^* and M. Edwin DeMont

Department of Biology, St Francis Xavier University, PO Box 5000, Antigonish, NS, Canada, B2G 2W5

^* Author for correspondence (jlim{at}oeb.harvard.edu)

Accepted 2 June 2009

The American lobster (Homarus americanus) displays a diverse set of locomotory behaviours that includes tail flips, walking and paddling. Paddling is carried out by the four pairs of paddle-shaped pleopods on the ventral abdomen. Although it is recognized that pleopod-generated fluid flows have some locomotory role in adults, reports on their relative importance in locomotion are inconsistent. This paper integrates experimental kinematics and hydrodynamics of lobster pleopod beating to determine the mechanism and magnitude of pleopod force production. A kinematic analysis of pleopod beating in live lobsters showed that the pleopods execute an adlocomotory metachronal beating pattern. We modelled in vivo pleopod kinematics with a set of simple trigonometric functions, and used these functions to program a mechanical lobster model consisting of motor-driven pleopods on a lobster abdomen exoskeleton. Based on flow visualizations obtained from applying particle image velocimetry to the lobster model, we propose that the unsteady metachronal kinematics of the pleopods can maximize thrust by exploiting forces arising from individual pleopod activity and interactions among adjacent pairs. The pleopods continuously entrain fluid surrounding the lobster and create a caudally directed fluid jet oriented parallel to the substratum. Inputting wake morphology and velocity data into a simplified model for steady jet thrust showed that the pleopods of the lobster model produced 27–54 mN of thrust, which is comparable to the propulsive forces generated by other proficient swimmers. These results suggest that lobster pleopods are capable of producing forces of a magnitude that could assist the walking legs in forward propulsion.

Key words: lobster, Homarus americanus, pleopod, locomotion, hydrodynamics, metachrony, kinematics, robotics, jet wake

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