Functional morphology of undulatory pectoral fin locomotion in the stingray taeniura lymma (Chondrichthyes: dasyatidae)

1999 ◽  
Vol 202 (24) ◽  
pp. 3523-3539 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.J. Rosenberger ◽  
M.W. Westneat
Keyword(s):  
Beat Frequency ◽  
Motor Pattern ◽  
Power Stroke ◽  
Swimming Velocity ◽  
Pectoral Fin ◽  
Motor Patterns ◽  
Kinematic Data ◽  
Locomotor System ◽  
Anterior Dorsal ◽  
Undulatory Locomotion

Rajiform locomotion is a unique swimming style found in the batoid fishes (skates and rays) in which thrust is generated by undulatory waves passing down the enlarged pectoral fins. We examined the kinematic patterns of fin motion and the motor patterns of pectoral fin muscles driving the locomotor system in the blue-spot stingray Taeniura lymma. Our goals in this study were to determine overall patterns of fin motion and motor control during undulatory locomotion, to discover how these patterns change with swimming velocity and to correlate muscle function with kinematics and pectoral morphology. Kinematic data were recorded from five individuals over a range of swimming speeds from 22 to 55 cm s(−)(1) (0.9-3.0 DL s(−)(1), where DL is body disc length). Electromyographic (EMG) data were recorded from three individuals over a range of velocities (1.2-3.0 DL s(−)(1)) at seven locations (four dorsal, three ventral) along the pectoral fin. As swimming velocity increases, fin-beat frequency, wavespeed and stride length increase, number of waves and reduced frequency decrease and fin amplitude remains constant. There is variability among individuals in frequency and amplitude at a given speed. An inverse relationship was found in which a high fin-beat frequency is associated with a low fin amplitude and a low fin-beat frequency is associated with a high fin amplitude. The motor pattern of undulatory locomotion is alternate firing activity in the dorsal and ventral muscles as the wave moves along the fin from anterior to posterior. Fin muscles are active along the entire length of the fin except at the lowest speeds. As swimming velocity and fin-beat frequency increase, the time of activation of posterior muscles becomes earlier relative to the onset of activity in the anterior dorsal muscles. The duration of muscle activity is longer in the ventral muscles than in the dorsal muscles, indicating that they play a central role in the power stroke of the fin-beat cycle. The anterior muscles (dorsal and ventral) are active for a relatively longer part of the stride cycle than the posterior muscles. Both the anterior position and the large duty factor of the anterior muscles reflect the role of these muscles in initial wave generation. Synchronous recordings of kinematic data with EMG data reveal that the anterior dorsal and middle ventral muscles do mostly positive work, whereas the dorsal and ventral posterior muscles do negative work at most swimming speeds.

Motor patterns of labriform locomotion: kinematic and electromyographic analysis of pectoral fin swimming in the labrid fish Gomphosus varius

1997 ◽  
Vol 200 (13) ◽  
pp. 1881-1893 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Westneat ◽  
J Walker
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Motor Pattern ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Total Body Length ◽  
Adductor Muscle ◽  
Pectoral Fin ◽  
Motor Patterns ◽  
Emg Patterns ◽  
Muscle Groups ◽  
Electromyographic Analysis

Labriform locomotion is a widespread swimming mechanism in fishes during which propulsive forces are generated by oscillating the pectoral fins. We examined the activity of the six major muscles that power the pectoral fin of the bird wrasse Gomphosus varius (Labridae: Perciformes). The muscles studied included the fin abductors (arrector ventralis, abductor superficialis and abductor profundus) and the fin adductors (arrector dorsalis, adductor superficialis and adductor profundus). Our goals were to determine the pattern of muscle activity that drives the fins in abduction and adduction cycles during pectoral fin locomotion, to examine changes in the timing and amplitude of electromyographic (EMG) patterns with increases in swimming speed and to correlate EMG patterns with the kinematics of pectoral fin propulsion. EMG data were recorded from three individuals over a range of swimming speeds from 15 to 70 cm s-1 (1­4.8 TL s-1, where TL is total body length). The basic motor pattern of pectoral propulsion is alternating activity of the antagonist abductor and adductor groups. The downstroke is characterized by activity of the arrector ventralis muscle before the other abductors, whereas the upstroke involves nearly synchronous activity of the three adductors. Most EMG variables (duration, onset time, amplitude and integrated area) showed significant correlations with swimming speeds. However, the timing and duration of muscle activity are relatively constant across speeds when expressed as a fraction of the stride period, which decreases with increased velocity. Synchronous recordings of kinematic data (maximal abduction and adduction) with EMG data revealed that activity in the abductors began after maximal adduction and that activity in the adductors began nearly synchronously with maximal abduction. Thus, the pectoral fin mechanism of G. varius is activated by positive work from both abductor and adductor muscle groups over most of the range of swimming speeds. The adductors produce some negative work only at the highest swimming velocities. We combine information from pectoral fin morphology, swimming kinematics and motor patterns to interpret the musculoskeletal mechanism of pectoral propulsion in labrid fishes.

Modulation of the crayfish swimmeret rhythm by octopamine and the neuropeptide proctolin

1987 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 584-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Mulloney ◽  
L. D. Acevedo ◽  
A. G. Bradbury
Keyword(s):  
Spontaneous Activity ◽  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Nerve Cord ◽  
Ventral Nerve Cord ◽  
Motor Pattern ◽  
Threshold Concentration ◽  
Power Stroke ◽  
Motor Patterns ◽  
Dose Dependent ◽  
Characteristic Motor

1. The swimmeret system can be excited by perfusing the neuropeptide proctolin through the isolated ventral nerve cord of the crayfish. Previously silent preparations begin to generate a characteristic motor pattern, the swimmeret rhythm, in the nerves that innervate the swimmerets. The response to proctolin is dose dependent and reversible. The threshold concentration of proctolin perfused through the ventral artery is approximately 10(-8) M. The EC50 is 1.6 X 10(-6) M. 2. Proctolin-induced motor patterns have periods and phases similar to those of spontaneously generated motor patterns. The durations of the bursts of impulses in power-stroke motor neurons generated in the presence of proctolin are, however, significantly longer than those that occur during spontaneous activity. 3. DL-Octopamine inhibits the swimmeret system, both when the system is spontaneously active and when it has been excited by proctolin. The inhibition by octopamine is dose dependent and reversible. The threshold for inhibition is approximately 10(-6) M, and the EC50 is approximately 5 X 10(-5) M. 4. Octopamine's effect is mimicked by its agonists, synephrine and norepinephrine. Synephrine has a lower threshold concentration than does octopamine, but norepinephrine is much less effective than octopamine. 5. Octopamine's inhibition is partially blocked by an antagonist, phentolamine. 6. Phentolamine also blocks inhibition of the swimmeret system by inhibitory command interneurons. This block is dose dependent and can be partially overcome by stimulating the command interneurons at higher frequencies. 7. Perfusion with 11 other suspected crustacean neurotransmitters and transmitter analogues did not similarly excite or inhibit the swimmeret system, so we suggest that proctolin and octopamine are transmitters used by the neurons that normally control expression of the swimmeret rhythm.

Dynamic Analysis of a Robotic Fish Propelled by Flexible Folding Pectoral Fins

Robotica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 699-718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Van Anh Pham ◽  
Tan Tien Nguyen ◽  
Byung Ryong Lee ◽  
Tuong Quan Vo
Keyword(s):  
Power Stroke ◽  
Swimming Velocity ◽  
Force Model ◽  
Flexible Joints ◽  
Pectoral Fin ◽  
Pectoral Fins ◽  
Recovery Stroke ◽  
Turning Radius ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

SUMMARYBiological fish can create high forward swimming speed due to change of thrust/drag area of pectoral fins between power stroke and recovery stroke in rowing mode. In this paper, we proposed a novel type of folding pectoral fins for the fish robot, which provides a simple approach in generating effective thrust only through one degree of freedom of fin actuator. Its structure consists of two elemental fin panels for each pectoral fin that connects to a hinge base through the flexible joints. The Morison force model is adopted to discover the relationship of the dynamic interaction between fin panels and surrounding fluid. An experimental platform for the robot motion using the pectoral fin with different flexible joints was built to validate the proposed design. The results express that the performance of swimming velocity and turning radius of the robot are enhanced effectively. The forward swimming velocity can reach 0.231 m/s (0.58 BL/s) at the frequency near 0.75 Hz. By comparison, we found an accord between the proposed dynamic model and the experimental behavior of the robot. The attained results can be used to design controllers and optimize performances of the robot propelled by the folding pectoral fins.

Pectoral fin locomotion in batoid fishes: undulation versus oscillation

2001 ◽  
Vol 204 (2) ◽  
pp. 379-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.J. Rosenberger
Keyword(s):  
Swimming Speed ◽  
Beat Frequency ◽  
Wave Number ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Swimming Velocity ◽  
Pectoral Fin ◽  
Pectoral Fins ◽  
Rhinoptera Bonasus ◽  
Raja Eglanteria ◽  
Fin Length

This study explores the dichotomy between undulatory (passing multiple waves down the fin or body) and oscillatory (flapping) locomotion by comparing the kinematics of pectoral fin locomotion in eight species of batoids (Dasyatis americana, D. sabina, D. say, D. violacea, Gymnura micrura, Raja eglanteria, Rhinobatos lentiginosus and Rhinoptera bonasus) that differ in their swimming behavior, phylogenetic position and lifestyle. The goals of this study are to describe and compare the pectoral fin locomotor behavior of the eight batoid species, to clarify how fin movements change with swimming speed for each species and to analyze critically the undulation/oscillation continuum proposed by Breder using batoids as an example. Kinematic data were recorded for each species over a range of swimming velocities (1–3 disc lengths s(−1)). The eight species in this study vary greatly in their swimming modes. Rhinobatos lentiginosus uses a combination of axial-based and pectoral-fin-based undulation to move forward through the water, with primary thrust generated by the tail. The pectoral fins are activated in short undulatory bursts for increasing swimming speed and for maneuvering. Raja eglanteria uses a combination of pectoral and pelvic locomotion, although only pectoral locomotion is analyzed here. The other six species use pectoral locomotion exclusively to propel themselves through the water. Dasyatis sabina and D. say have the most undulatory fins with an average of 1.3 waves per fin length, whereas Rhinoptera bonasus has the most oscillatory fin behavior with 0.4 waves per fin length. The remaining species range between these two extremes in the degree of undulation present on their fins. There is an apparent trade-off between fin-beat frequency and amplitude. Rhinoptera bonasus has the lowest frequency and the highest fin amplitude, whereas Rhinobatos lentiginosus has the highest frequency and the lowest amplitude among the eight species examined. The kinematic variables that batoids modify to change swimming velocity vary among different species. Rhinobatos lentiginosus increases its tail-beat frequency to increase swimming speed. In contrast, the four Dasyatis species increase swimming speed by increasing frequency and wavespeed, although D. americana also changes wave number. Raja eglanteria modifies its swimming velocity by changing wavespeed and wave number. Rhinoptera bonasus increases wavespeed, Gymnura micrura decreases wave number, and both Rhinoptera bonasus and Gymnura micrura increase fin-tip velocity to increase swimming velocity. Batoid species fall onto a continuum between undulation and oscillation on the basis of the number of waves present on the fins.

Ciliary coordination in newt lung cells requires microtubule-based linkages between basal bodies: A correlative light and EM study

1992 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 570-571
Author(s):  
Robert Hard ◽  
Gerald Rupp ◽  
Matthew L. Withiam-Leitch ◽  
Lisa Cardamone
Keyword(s):  
Basal Body ◽  
Untreated Control ◽  
Beat Frequency ◽  
Primary Cultures ◽  
Living Cells ◽  
Power Stroke ◽  
Ultrastructural Changes ◽  
Lung Cells ◽  
Basal Bodies ◽  
Ciliated Cells

In a coordinated field of beating cilia, the direction of the power stroke is correlated with the orientation of basal body appendages, called basal feet. In newt lung ciliated cells, adjacent basal feet are interconnected by cold-stable microtubules (basal MTs). In the present study, we investigate the hypothesis that these basal MTs stabilize ciliary distribution and alignment. To accomplish this, newt lung primary cultures were treated with the microtubule disrupting agent, Colcemid. In newt lung cultures, cilia normally disperse in a characteristic fashion as the mucociliary epithelium migrates from the tissue explant. Four arbitrary, but progressive stages of dispersion were defined and used to monitor this redistribution process. Ciliaiy beat frequency, coordination, and dispersion were assessed for 91 hrs in untreated (control) and treated cultures. When compared to controls, cilia dispersed more rapidly and ciliary coordination decreased markedly in cultures treated with Colcemid (2 mM). Correlative LM/EM was used to assess whether these effects of Colcemid were coupled to ultrastructural changes. Living cells were defined as having coordinated or uncoordinated cilia and then were processed for transmission EM.

Design and Dynamic Modeling of a Flexible Feathering Joint for Robotic Fish Pectoral Fins

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanaz Bazaz Behbahani ◽  
Xiaobo Tan
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Model ◽  
Robotic Fish ◽  
Power Stroke ◽  
Hydrodynamic Drag ◽  
Pectoral Fin ◽  
Flexible Joint ◽  
Blade Element Theory ◽  
Pectoral Fins ◽  
Flexible Part ◽  
Recovery Stroke

In this paper, we propose a novel design for a pectoral fin joint of a robotic fish. This joint uses a flexible part to enable the rowing pectoral fin to feather passively and thus reduce the hydrodynamic drag in the recovery stroke. On the other hand, a mechanical stopper allows the fin to maintain its motion prescribed by the servomotor in the power stroke. The design results in net thrust even when the fin is actuated symmetrically for the power and recovery strokes. A dynamic model for this joint and for a pectoral fin-actuated robotic fish involving such joints is presented. The pectoral fin is modeled as a rigid plate connected to the servo arm through a pair of torsional spring and damper that describes the flexible joint. The hydrodynamic force on the fin is evaluated with blade element theory, where all three components of the force are considered due to the feathering degree of freedom of the fin. Experimental results on robotic fish prototype are provided to support the effectiveness of the design and the presented dynamic model. We utilize three different joints (with different sizes and different flexible materials), produced with a multi-material 3D printer, and measure the feathering angles of the joints and the forward swimming velocities of the robotic fish. Good match between the model predictions and experimental data is achieved, and the advantage of the proposed flexible joint over a rigid joint, where the power and recovery strokes have to be actuated at different speeds to produce thrust, is demonstrated.

Slow active potentials and bursting motor patterns in pyloric network of the lobster, Panulirus interruptus

1982 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 914-937 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Russell ◽  
D. K. Hartline
Keyword(s):  
Motor Pattern ◽  
Membrane Properties ◽  
Plateau Potentials ◽  
Motor Patterns ◽  
Potential Oscillations ◽  
Panulirus Interruptus ◽  
Pyloric Network ◽  
Current Pulses ◽  
Voltage Dependent ◽  
High Level

1. Neurons in the central pattern generator for the "pyloric" motor rhythm of the lobster stomatogastric ganglion were investigated for the possible involvement of regenerative membrane properties in their membrane-potential oscillations and bursting output patterns. 2. Evidence was found that each class of pyloric-system neurons can possess a capability for generating prolonged regenerative depolarizations by a voltage-dependent membrane mechanism. Such responses have been termed plateau potentials. 3. Several tests were applied to determine whether a given cell possessed a plateau capability. First among these was the ability to trigger all-or-none bursts of nerve impulses by brief depolarizing current pulses and to terminate bursts in an all-or-none fashion with brief hyperpolarizing current pulses. Tests were made under conditions of a high level of activity in the pyloric generator, often in conjunction with the use of hyperpolarizing offsets to the cell under test to suppress ongoing bursting. 4. For each class, the network of synaptic interconnections among the pyloric-system neurons was shown to not be the cause of the regenerative responses observed. 5. Plateau potentials are viewed as a driving force for axon spiking during bursts and as interacting with the synaptic network in the formation of the pyloric motor pattern.

Principles of rhythmic motor pattern generation

1996 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 687-717 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Marder ◽  
R. L. Calabrese
Keyword(s):  
Motor Pattern ◽  
Pattern Generation ◽  
Rhythmic Movements ◽  
Motor Patterns ◽  
Nervous Systems ◽  
Cellular Processes ◽  
Rhythmic Motor ◽  
Computational Analyses ◽  
Motor Pattern Generation ◽  
Rhythmic Motor Pattern

Rhythmic movements are produced by central pattern-generating networks whose output is shaped by sensory and neuromodulatory inputs to allow the animal to adapt its movements to changing needs. This review discusses cellular, circuit, and computational analyses of the mechanisms underlying the generation of rhythmic movements in both invertebrate and vertebrate nervous systems. Attention is paid to exploring the mechanisms by which synaptic and cellular processes interact to play specific roles in shaping motor patterns and, consequently, movement.

Peptidergic modulation of a multioscillator system in the lobster. I. Activation of the cardiac sac motor pattern by the neuropeptides proctolin and red pigment-concentrating hormone

1989 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 833-844 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. S. Dickinson ◽  
E. Marder
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Motor Pattern ◽  
Stomatogastric Ganglion ◽  
Red Pigment ◽  
Stomatogastric Nervous System ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Motor Patterns ◽  
Neuronal Element

1. The cardiac sac motor pattern consists of slow and irregular impulse bursts in the motor neurons [cardiac sac dilator 1 and 2 (CD1 and CD2)] that innervate the dilator muscles of the cardiac sac region of the crustacean foregut. 2. The effects of the peptides, proctolin and red pigment-concentrating hormone (RPCH), on the cardiac sac motor patterns produced by in vitro preparations of the combined stomatogastric nervous system [the stomatogastric ganglion (STG), the paired commissural ganglia (CGs), and the oesophageal ganglion (OG)] were studied. 3. Bath applications of either RPCH or proctolin activated the cardiac sac motor pattern when this motor pattern was not already active and increased the frequency of the cardiac sac motor pattern in slowly active preparations. 4. The somata of CD1 and CD2 are located in the esophageal and stomatogastric ganglia, respectively. Both neurons project to all four of the ganglia of the stomatogastric nervous system. RPCH elicited cardiac sac motor patterns when applied to any region of the stomatogastric nervous system, suggesting a distributed pattern generating network with multiple sites of modulation. 5. The anterior median (AM) neuron innervates the constrictor muscles of the cardiac sac. The AM usually functions as a part of the gastric mill pattern generator. However, when the cardiac sac is activated by RPCH applied to the stomatogastric ganglion, the AM neuron becomes active in antiphase with the cardiac sac dilator bursts. This converts the cardiac sac motor pattern from a one-phase rhythm to a two-phase rhythm. 6. These data show that a neuropeptide can cause a neuronal element to switch from being solely a component of one neuronal circuit to functioning in a second one as well. This example shows that peptidergic "reconfiguration" of neuronal networks can produce substantial changes in the behavior of associated neurons.

Pectoral fin locomotion in the striped surfperch. II. Scaling swimming kinematics and performance at a gait transition

1996 ◽  
Vol 199 (10) ◽  
pp. 2243-2252 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Drucker ◽  
J Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Swimming Speed ◽  
Beat Frequency ◽  
Small Fish ◽  
Maximal Velocity ◽  
Pectoral Fin ◽  
Gait Transition ◽  
Transition Speed ◽  
Aspect Ratios ◽  
And Performance

In this study, we report the first allometric equations relating gait parameters and swimming speed to body size for fish employing pectoral fin locomotion. Comparisons of locomotor kinematics and performance among striped surfperch (Teleostei: Embiotocidae) are made at the pectoral­caudal gait transition speed (Up-c). Up-c is considered to elicit physiologically equivalent levels of exercise in animals varying over 100-fold in body mass (Mb) by virtue of dynamically similar pectoral fin movements (constant duty factor, length-specific stride length and fin-beat amplitude) and size-independent propulsive efficiency. At Up-c, pectoral fin-beat frequency scales in proportion to Mb-0.12±0.03, a size-dependence consistent with that observed for stride frequency in fishes swimming by axial undulatory propulsion and in many running tetrapods. It is proposed that the similarity in the scaling of frequency in these vertebrate groups reflects an underlying similarity in the allometry of the maximal velocity of muscle shortening. Absolute Up-c (m s-1) generally increases with body size, but the fastest speeds are not exhibited by the largest animals. A pattern of declining performance in fish 23 cm in standard length and longer may be related to their disproportionately small fin areas and aspect ratios. The pronounced negative allometry of Up-c expressed as standard body lengths per second indicates that a given length-specific speed does not induce comparable levels of activity in large and small fish. Thus, normalization of swimming speed to body length may not be a sufficient correction for kinematic comparisons across size.

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