Effects of lateral morphology on swimming performance in two sturgeon species. (22nd December 2012)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Qu, Y.; Duan, M.; Yan, J.; Feng, G.; Liu, J.; Zhang, L.; Zhuang, P.
• Is Part Of: Journal of applied ichthyology. Volume 29:Number 2(2013:Apr.)
• Page Start: 310
• Page End: 315
• Publication Date: 2012-12-22
• Subjects: Fishes -- Periodicals; Fish culture -- Periodicals; Fisheries -- Periodicals; Ichthyology -- Periodicals; 597
• DOI: 10.1111/jai.12131
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0175-8659

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="jai12131-abs-0001"> <title>Summary</title> <p>Fish express a high degree of diversity in morphology, which is closely related to behaviors such as swimming ability. The effect of morphology on swimming performance is explored using geometric morphometric analyses and classic critical swimming speed (<italic>U</italic><sub>crit</sub>) tests in Chinese sturgeon <italic>Acipenser sinensis</italic> and Siberian sturgeon <italic>A. baerii</italic>. It was found that <italic>A. sinensis</italic> is a stronger swimmer compared to <italic>A. baerii, </italic> with an average 25% higher <italic>U</italic><sub>crit</sub> (expressed in body lengths per second). In <italic>A. sinensis</italic>, the depth and length of the snout and the trailing edge length of the dorsal fin were negatively correlated with <italic>U</italic><sub>crit</sub>, whereas the height of the trunk anterior, the leading edge length of the dorsal fin and anal fin, and the length and width of the ventral lobe were positively related to <italic>U</italic><sub>crit</sub>; similar relationships between <italic>U</italic><sub>crit</sub> and morphological characters of the anterior trunk, dorsal fin, anal fin and caudal fin were found in <italic>A. baerii</italic>. Moreover, although the degree of upward bending of the snout of <italic>A. baerii</italic> was negatively related to <italic>U</italic><sub>crit</sub>, there was a positive relationship between the length of the caudal peduncle and <italic>U</italic><sub>crit</sub> as well as between the dorsal tail lobe and <italic>U</italic><sub>crit</sub>. In addition, the streamline index (<italic>SI</italic>) was calculated by comparing landmark coordinates on the trunk displayed in the relative warp, with its corresponding point on the NACA (the U.S. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) airfoil shape. <italic>SI</italic> showed that the body shape in RW1 of the <italic>A. baerii</italic> with more swimming capacity was more approximate to the NACA 0016 airfoil shape, but there was no such symmetry for <italic>A. sinensis</italic>, possibly due to body bending caused by stiffness.</p> </abstract>