Red muscle activity in bluegill sunfish Lepomis macrochirus during forward accelerations.

ABSTRACT: Fishes generate force to swim by activating muscles on either side of their flexible bodies. To accelerate, they must produce higher muscle forces, which leads to higher reaction forces back on their bodies from the environment. If their bodies are too flexible, the forces during acceleration could not be transmitted effectively to the environment, but fish can potentially use their muscles to increase the effective stiffness of their body. Here, we quantified red muscle activity during acceleration and steady swimming, looking for patterns that would be consistent with the hypothesis of body stiffening. We used high-speed video, electromyographic recordings, and a new digital inertial measurement unit to quantify body kinematics, red muscle activity, and 3D orientation and centre of mass

SUBMITTER: Schwalbe MAB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6542830 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature