Collaborative Research: RUI: How energy economy and muscle properties shape fish swimming strategies in the field

鱼类是淡水和海洋生态系统的重要组成部分，通过商业渔业和水产养殖具有重要的经济价值，并以休闲捕鱼的形式具有进一步的社会经济价值。关于鱼类在野外的行为细节，人们知之甚少。该项目的一个主要目标是开发能够分析鱼类游泳行为的低成本水下视频技术。这种方法揭示了一些鱼在游泳时使用间歇性推进：一种游泳模式，在这种模式下，短时间的尾巴跳动被滑行打断。来自野外游泳视频的信息将与实验室中的生理技术相结合，以测量游泳的能量成本和肌肉特性。然后，研究人员可以探索这种游泳方式的潜在优势，例如，我们预测间歇性游泳将降低能源成本。对许多动物来说，能源经济在生物学上是重要的，而低成本的推进策略也可能为水下机器人的设计和操作提供信息。增进对鱼类行为和生理的了解还可以为鱼类栖息地、商业和休闲渔业以及水产养殖设施的管理提供信息，并改进与鱼类互动的工程结构的设计，如鱼梯和溢洪道。此外，该项目将通过为几名本科生和高中生提供研究培训机会，扩大未被充分代表的群体在STEM领域的参与。为了充分了解运动和健康之间的联系，调查人员需要以下信息：1)动物如何在它们的栖息地活动，2)所观察到的运动模式背后的因素，以及3)这些因素如何影响影响健康的表现指标，如能源经济性。首席调查员最近获得的野外游泳表现数据表明，蓝鳍太阳鱼使用间歇推进策略进行游泳，这是实验室条件下很少观察到的行为。间歇推进在飞行中被广泛使用，在游泳中也可能很常见，尽管详细的现场数据很少。考虑到它们在栖息地的可及性，以及适合在实验室收集行为和生理数据，蓝鳍金枪鱼是探索鱼类游泳期间间歇推进的潜在好处的理想模式系统。该项目将使用3D水下摄像技术，对鱼类在野外游动的表现进行最详细的分析。这些数据将与肌肉收缩性能的实验室测量相结合，以量化支持间歇推进策略的潜在肌肉水平限制，并检验有关间歇推进对游泳鱼类的潜在能量优势的长期假设。由此得到的数据将广泛适用于解释鱼类在野外的行为，并将为实验室方法提供信息，以确保以与生物体健康相关的方式衡量性能。此外，该项目将为从STEM领域传统上代表性不足的人群中招募的几名本科生和高中生提供研究培训机会。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Fish are important components of freshwater and marine ecosystems, are economically important through commercial fisheries and aquaculture, and have further socio-economic value in the form of recreational fishing. Relatively little is known about the details of fish behavior in the field. A major goal of the project is to develop low-cost underwater video techniques that allow analysis of fish swimming behavior. This approach has revealed that some fish use intermittent propulsion while swimming: a swimming mode where short series of tail beats are interrupted by gliding. Information from field swimming videos will be combined with physiological techniques in the lab to measure swimming energy costs and muscle properties. The researchers can then explore the potential advantages of this swimming style, for example we predict that intermittent swimming will reduce energy costs. Energy economy is biologically important for many animals, and low-cost propulsive strategies may also inform the design and operation of underwater vehicles. Improved knowledge of fish behavior and physiology can also inform management of fish habitats, commercial and recreational fisheries, and aquaculture facilities, as well as improve the design of engineered structures with which fish interact such as fish ladders and spillways. Additionally, the project will broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM fields by providing research training opportunities for several undergraduate and high school students.To fully understand the links between locomotion and fitness, the investigators require information on the following: 1) how animals move in their habitats, 2) the factors that underlie the observed patterns of movement, and 3) how these factors affect the performance metrics, such as energy economy, that impact fitness. Field swimming performance data recently obtained by the Principal Investigators indicate that bluegill sunfish use an intermittent propulsive strategy for swimming, a behavior rarely observed under laboratory conditions. Intermittent propulsion is widely used during flight and may also be common during swimming, although detailed field data are scarce. Given their accessibility in their habitat, and suitability for behavioral and physiological data collection in the lab, bluegills are an ideal model system for exploring the potential benefits of intermittent propulsion during fish swimming. The project will use 3D underwater videography to provide the most detailed analysis of fish swimming performance in the field yet attempted. These data will be integrated with laboratory measurements of muscle contractile performance to quantify the potential muscle level constraints that favor intermittent propulsive strategies, and to test long-standing hypotheses regarding the potential energetic advantages of intermittent propulsion in swimming fish. The resulting data will be broadly applicable in interpreting fish behavior in the field and will inform laboratory approaches to ensure performance is measured in ways relevant to organismal fitness. Additionally, the project will provide research training opportunities for several undergraduate and high school students who are recruited from populations that are traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.