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First published online November 30, 2007
Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 4265-4271 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
doi: 10.1242/jeb.009498

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Mechanical and energetic factors underlying gait transitions in bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus)

Jennifer L. Kendall, Kaitlyn S. Lucey, Emily A. Jones, Jasmine Wang and David J. Ellerby^*

Department of Biological Sciences, Wellesley College, 106 Central Street, Wellesley, MA 02481, USA

View larger version (5K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 1. Relationship between pectoral fin beat frequency and swimming speed in bluegill sunfish (filled symbols). The open symbol shows the mean pectoral fin beat frequency and speed during maximal labriform swimming. Values are means ± s.e.m. (N=6).

View larger version (7K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 2. Relationship between maximal pectoral girdle muscle power outputs and strain cycle frequency. Open symbols, adductor profundus; filled symbols, abductor superficialis. Values are means ± s.e.m. (N=6). The vertical broken line shows the cycle frequency used during maximal labriform swimming. The horizontal lines adjacent to each data set show the homogenous subsets of muscle power output values that span the gait transition (Tukey's HSD P0.05).

View larger version (10K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 3. Relationship between the metabolic power requirements of swimming and swimming speed for bluegill sunfish. Filled symbols, total metabolic power, Pgross; open symbols, Pnet (total metabolic power minus standard metabolic rate); black symbols, labriform swimming; red symbols, undulatory swimming. Data are fitted with the following power relationships: labriform Pgross=0.47+6.45U2.02; undulatory Pgross=0.61+29.6U3.17; labriform Pnet=0.12+3.29U1.57; undulatory Pnet=0.35+37.4U3.47, where U is swimming speed in m s–1. The broken lines show 95% confidence intervals for the fitted relationships. Values are means ± s.e.m., N=9, except where the speed ranges for labriform and undulatory swimming overlap at 0.25 m s–1, where N=4 for labriform swimming and N=5 for undulatory swimming.

View larger version (10K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 4. Relationship between the cost of transport (COT) and swimming speed for bluegill sunfish. Filled symbols, COTgross; open symbols, COTnet; black symbols, labriform swimming; red symbols, undulatory swimming. Data are fitted with the following relationships: labriform COTgross=5.73–10.1U; undulatory COTgross=3.59+76.3U3.96; labriform COTnet=1.9+0.13U; undulatory COTnet=1.83+39.2U2.84. The broken lines show 95% confidence intervals for the fitted relationships. Values are means ± s.e.m., N=9, except where the speed ranges for labriform and undulatory swimming overlap at 0.25 m s–1, where N=4 for labriform swimming and N=5 for undulatory swimming.

View larger version (16K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 5. Fish cost of transport (COT) in relation to swimming speed. Green traces: specialist undulatory swimmers; bluefin tuna, Thunnus orientalis (Blank et al., 2007); cod, Gadus morhua (Reidy et al., 1999); rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Webb, 1971); coho salmon, Oncoryhnchus tshchawystcha (Gallaugher et al., 2001); European eel, Anguilla anguilla (van Ginneken et al., 2005). Black traces: species that utilize median paired fin (MPF) swimming only at low speeds, switching to undulatory swimming at higher speeds; bluegill sunfish (present study); pumpkinseed, Lepomis gibbosus (Brett and Sutherland, 1965); triggerfish, Rhinecanthus aculeatus (Korsmeyer et al., 2002); white crappie, Pomoxis annularis (Parsons and Sylvester, 1992). Red traces: high-speed undulatory swimming in species that use MPF swimming at low speeds; bluegill sunfish (present study); pumpkinseed (Brett and Sutherland, 1965); triggerfish (Korsmeyer et al., 2002); white crappie (Parsons and Sylvester, 1992). Blue traces: species that use labriform swimming across a wide range of speeds, with no gait change to sustained undulatory swimming; shiner perch, Cymatogaster aggregata (Webb, 1974); parrotfish, Scarus schlegeli (Korsmeyer et al., 2002).