TY - JOUR
T1 - Conserved spatio-temporal patterns of suction-feeding flows across aquatic vertebrates
T2 - A comparative flow visualization study
AU - Jacobs, Corrine N.
AU - Holzman, Roi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd | Journal of Experimental Biology.
PY - 2018/4
Y1 - 2018/4
N2 - Suction feeding is a widespread prey capture strategy among aquatic vertebrates. It is almost omnipresent across fishes, and has repeatedly evolved in other aquatic vertebrates. By rapidly expanding the mouth cavity, suction feeders generate a fluid flow outside of their mouth, drawing prey inside. Fish and other suctionfeeding organisms display remarkable trophic diversity, echoed in the diversity of their skull and mouth morphologies. Yet, it is unclear how variable suction flows are across species, and whether variation in suction flows supports trophic diversity. Using a high-speed flow visualization technique, we characterized the spatio-temporal patterns in the flow fields produced during feeding in 14 species of aquatic suction feeders.We found that suction-feeding hydrodynamics are highly conserved across species. Suction flows affected only a limited volume of ∼1 gape diameter away from the mouth, and peaked around the timing of maximal mouth opening. The magnitude of flow speed increased with increasing mouth diameter and, to a lesser extent, with decreasing time to peak gape opening. Other morphological, kinematic and behavioral variables played a minor role in shaping suction-feeding dynamics. We conclude that the trophic diversity within fishes, and likely other aquatic vertebrates, is not supported by a diversity of mechanisms that modify the characteristics of suction flow. Rather, we suggest that suction feeding supports such trophic diversity owing to the general lack of strong trade-offs with other mechanisms that contribute to prey capture.
AB - Suction feeding is a widespread prey capture strategy among aquatic vertebrates. It is almost omnipresent across fishes, and has repeatedly evolved in other aquatic vertebrates. By rapidly expanding the mouth cavity, suction feeders generate a fluid flow outside of their mouth, drawing prey inside. Fish and other suctionfeeding organisms display remarkable trophic diversity, echoed in the diversity of their skull and mouth morphologies. Yet, it is unclear how variable suction flows are across species, and whether variation in suction flows supports trophic diversity. Using a high-speed flow visualization technique, we characterized the spatio-temporal patterns in the flow fields produced during feeding in 14 species of aquatic suction feeders.We found that suction-feeding hydrodynamics are highly conserved across species. Suction flows affected only a limited volume of ∼1 gape diameter away from the mouth, and peaked around the timing of maximal mouth opening. The magnitude of flow speed increased with increasing mouth diameter and, to a lesser extent, with decreasing time to peak gape opening. Other morphological, kinematic and behavioral variables played a minor role in shaping suction-feeding dynamics. We conclude that the trophic diversity within fishes, and likely other aquatic vertebrates, is not supported by a diversity of mechanisms that modify the characteristics of suction flow. Rather, we suggest that suction feeding supports such trophic diversity owing to the general lack of strong trade-offs with other mechanisms that contribute to prey capture.
KW - Fishes
KW - Particle image velocimetry
KW - Skull kinematics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85045312476&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1242/jeb.174912
DO - 10.1242/jeb.174912
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AN - SCOPUS:85045312476
SN - 0022-0949
VL - 221
JO - Journal of Experimental Biology
JF - Journal of Experimental Biology
IS - 7
M1 - jeb174912
ER -