Swimming speed performance in coral reef fishes: field validations reveal distinct functional groups

By Christopher J. Fulton. Coral reefs, 2007

94 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Central to our understanding of locomotion in fishes are the performance implications of using different modes of swimming. Employing a unique combination of laboratory performance trials and field observations of swimming speed, this study investigated the comparative performance of pectoral and body-caudal fin swimming within an entire assemblage of coral reef fishes (117 species 10 families). Field observations of swimming behaviour identified three primary modes: labriform (pectoral 70 spp.), subcarangiform (body-caudal 29 spp.) and chaetodontiform (augmented body-caudal 18 spp.). While representative taxa from all three modes were capable of speeds exceeding 50 cm s−1 during laboratory trials, only pectoral-swimmers maintained such high speeds under field conditions. Direct comparisons revealed that pectoral-swimming species maintained field speeds at a remarkable 70% of their maximum (lab-tested) recorded speed; species using body-caudal fin propulsion maintained field speeds at around 50% of maximum. These findings highlight a profound influence of swimming mode on performance, with the relative mechanical and energetic efficiency of each swimming mode being of major importance. Combining attributes of efficiency, maneuverability and speed in one mode of propulsion, pectoral swimming appears to be a particularly versatile form of locomotion, well suited to a demersal lifestyle on coral reefs.

Subfields: Aerospace Engineering, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/71413f703cff15684a50b6291bcb5c25f794aa1a

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Aerospace Engineering

1. J. L. Johansen
2. Geoffrey P. Jones

In Nature and Landscape Conservation

1. A. Marshell
2. J. L. Johansen
3. Robert Steneck
4. Geoffrey P. Jones
5. Peter J. Mumby

Citations in the corpus

• The shape of success in a turbulent world: wave exposure filtering of coral reef herbivory (2017, background): “Herbivorous fish rely largely on their pectoral fins for propulsion (Fulton 2007), and are therefore regarded as optimally suited to exploit benthic resources and manoeuvre closely around complex reef structures (Blake 2004).”
• Increasing ocean temperature reduces the metabolic performance and swimming ability of coral reef damselfishes (2011, background): “…Apogonidae, Caesionidae, Labridae and Pomachanthidae are all families with multiple species foraging on zooplankton in the water column, many of which have UP C and Ucrit similar to the species examined here and occupy the same habitats (see Randall et al., 1997; Fulton et al., 2005; Fulton, 2007).”