Escape responses by jet propulsion in scallops

2013 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 420-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helga E. Guderley ◽  
Isabelle Tremblay

The impressive swimming escape response of scallops uses a simple locomotor system that facilitates analysis of the functional relationships between its primary components. One large adductor muscle, two valves, the muscular mantle, and the rubbery hinge ligament are the basic elements allowing swimming by jet propulsion. Although these basic functional elements are shared among scallop species, the exact nature of the escape response varies considerably within and among species. Valve shape and density have opposing influences upon the capacity for swimming and the ease of attack by predators once captured. Patterns of muscle use can partly overcome the constraints imposed by shell characteristics. The depletion of muscle reserves during gametogenesis leads to a trade-off between escape response performance and reproductive investment. However, changes in muscle energetic status influence repeat performance more than initial escape performance. Escape response performance is influenced by habitat temperature and mariculture techniques. During scallop ontogeny, changes in susceptibility to predation and in reproductive investment may influence escape response capacities. These ontogenetic patterns are likely to vary with the longevity and maximal size of each species. Although the basic elements allowing swimming by jet propulsion are common to scallops, their exact use varies considerably among species.

2009 ◽  
Vol 377 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helga Guderley ◽  
Stéphanie Labbé-Giguere ◽  
Xavier Janssoone ◽  
Mélanie Bourgeois ◽  
Hernan Mauricio Pérez ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 158 (8) ◽  
pp. 1903-1913 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hernán M. Pérez ◽  
Katherina B. Brokordt ◽  
Réjean Tremblay ◽  
Helga E. Guderley

1990 ◽  
Vol 259 (2) ◽  
pp. R223-R230 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Marsh

The kinetic properties of muscle that could influence locomotor frequency include rate of activation, rate of cross-bridge "attachment", intrinsic shortening velocity, and rate of deactivation. The latter two mechanisms are examined using examples from high-speed running in lizards and escape swimming in scallops. During running, inertial loading and elastic energy storage probably mitigate the effects of thermal alterations in intrinsic muscle shortening velocity. The result is a rather low thermal dependence of stride frequency over a 15-20 degree C temperature range. However, at lower temperatures, the longer times required for deactivation cause the thermal dependence of frequency to increase greatly. Scallops use a single muscle to swim by jet propulsion. In vivo shortening velocity in these animals also shows a low thermal dependence. As with high-speed running, the mechanics of jet propulsion may limit the effects of thermally induced changes in intrinsic shortening velocity. The largest thermal effect during swimming is on the initial phase of valve opening. The effects of temperature on the rate of deactivation of the adductor muscle could play an important role in limiting reextension of the muscle, which is dependent on elastic energy storage in the hinge ligament. These examples illustrate that the relative importance of various intrinsic contractile properties in controlling locomotor performance depends on the mechanics of the movements.


1973 ◽  
Vol 32 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1255-1261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gene H. Moffat ◽  
Daniel L. Koch

College Ss were given 75 lever-press escape trials with omission of entertaining material constituting the aversive stimulus. Reinstatement of the recording occurred either 0, 3, 6, or 9 sec. after the escape response. One-half of Ss in each delay group received 15 inescapable trials immediately prior to the escape trials. The results indicated that response latencies for the escape trials were directly related to the delay interval employed. Inescapable pretraining did not differentially affect performance.


1996 ◽  
Vol 199 (9) ◽  
pp. 1931-1946 ◽  
Author(s):  
J-Y Cheng ◽  
I G Davison ◽  
M E Demont

A dynamic model for a swimming scallop was developed which integrates the mechanical properties of the hinge ligaments, valve inertia, the external fluid-flow reaction, the fluid pressure in the mantle cavity and the muscle contraction. Kinematic data were recorded for a swimming Placopecten magellanicus from high-speed film analysis. Dynamic loading experiments were performed to provide the required mechanical properties of the hinge for the same species. The swimming dynamics and energetics based on data from a 0.065 m long Placopecten magellanicus at 10 °C were analyzed. The main conclusions are as follows. 1. The mean period of a clapping cycle during swimming is about 0.28 s, which can be roughly divided into three equal intervals: closing, gliding and opening. The maximum angular velocity and acceleration of the valve movements are about 182 degrees s-1 and 1370 degrees s-2, respectively. 2. The hysteresis loop of the hinge was found to be close to an ellipse. This may be represented as a simple Voigt body consisting of a spring and dashpot in parallel, with a rotational stiffness of 0.0497 N m and viscosity coefficient of 0.00109 kg m2 s-1 for the 0.065 m long Placopecten magellanicus. 3. The external fluid reaction has three components, of which the added mass is about 10 times higher than the mass of a single valve, and the flow-induced pseudo-viscosity compensates for nearly half of the hinge viscosity for the 0.065 m long Placopecten magellanicus. 4. The locomotor system powered by the muscle can be divided into two subsystems: a pressure pump for jet production and a shell-hinge/outer-fluid oscillator which drives the pumping cycle. The dynamics of the oscillator is determined predominantly by the interaction of the external fluid reaction and the hinge properties, and its resonant frequency was found to be close to the swimming frequencies. 5. The momentum and energy required to run the oscillator are negligibly small (about 1 % for the 0.065 m long Placopecten magellanicus) compared with that for the jet. Almost all the mechanical energy from muscle contraction is used to perform hydrodynamic work for jet production. Thus, the Froude efficiency of propulsion in scallops is nearly the same as the entire mechanical efficiency of the locomotor system. This could be a fundamental advantage of jet propulsion, at least for a scallop. 6. The estimated maximum muscle stress is about 1.06x10(5) N m-2, the cyclic work is 0.065 J and power output is 1.3 W. Using an estimate of the mass of an adductor muscle, the work done by the muscle per unit mass is 9.0 J kg-1 and the peak power per unit mass is 185 W kg-1. 7. The time course of the force generation of the contracting adductor muscle is basically the same as that of the hydrodynamic propulsive force.


2002 ◽  
Vol 205 (6) ◽  
pp. 841-849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuel Azizi ◽  
Tobias Landberg

SUMMARYAlthough 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.


Behaviour ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 132 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 181-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pilar López ◽  
José Martín

AbstractWe compared the escape behaviour of juvenile and adult Psammodromus algirus lizards, by using data of escape performance in the laboratory and field observations of escape behaviour. We specifically examined whether a differential escape response is a constraint of body size, or whether juveniles behave differently in order to maximize their escape possibilities taking into account their size-related speed limitations. In the laboratory, juvenile lizards were slower than adult lizards, and escaped during less time and to shorter distances, even when removing the effect of body size. In the field, juveniles allowed closer approaches and after a short flight usually did not hide immediately, but did so after successive short runs if the attack persists. Approach distance of juveniles was not affected by habitat, but initial and total flight distances were shorter in covered microhabitats. There was no significant effect of environmental temperature on approach and initial flight distances of juveniles. However, the total flight distances were significantly correlated with air temperatures.


2013 ◽  
Vol 216 (17) ◽  
pp. 3264-3272 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. R. Laming ◽  
S. R. Jenkins ◽  
I. D. McCarthy

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 1147-1153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory M. Andraso ◽  
James N. Barron

It is generally believed that predation pressure may drive the evolution of long spines, a robust pelvic girdle, and a deep body in sticklebacks (Pisces: Gasterosteidae). However, the lack of such traits in environments under intense predation pressure suggests that there may be a limit to which these apparently defensive structures benefit sticklebacks. In some environments, well-developed defensive structures may not increase stickleback survival, but may actually reduce fitness if there is a cost associated with them. This paper focuses on a trade-off between defensive morphology and escape-response performance in the brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans). Our study of four populations of brook stickleback reveals that the population with the largest pelvic girdles and deepest bodies has a poorly developed escape response (i.e., small displacement, low maximum velocity, and low acceleration), while the population with the smallest pelvic girdles and shallowest bodies has a highly developed escape response. The two populations with intermediate defensive structures are intermediate in escape-response performance. Consideration of predation regimes in different environments may help us understand selection pressures that favor heavily versus poorly armored stickleback morphs.


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