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意义，并以休闲捕鱼的形式具有进一步的社会经济价值。人们对鱼类在野外行为的细节所知相对较少。该项目的一个主要目标是开发低成本的水下视频技术，以分析鱼类的游泳行为。这种方法揭示了一些鱼类在游泳时使用间歇性推进：一种游泳模式，其中尾巴的一系列短节拍被滑行打断。来自野外游泳视频的信息将与实验室的生理技术相结合，以测量游泳的能量消耗和肌肉特性。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消耗。能源经济对许多动物具有重要的生物学意义，低成本的推进策略也可以为水下航行器的设计和操作提供信息。提高对鱼类行为和生理的了解也可以为鱼类栖息地、商业和休闲渔业以及水产养殖设施的管理提供信息，并改进与鱼类相互作用的工程结构的设计，如鱼梯和溢洪道。此外，该项目将通过为一些本科生和高中生提供研究培训机会，扩大代表性不足群体在STEM领域的参与。为了充分了解运动和健康之间的联系，研究人员需要以下信息：1)动物在其栖息地中如何运动，2)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性能指标，如能源经济。首席研究人员最近获得的野外游泳性能数据表明，蓝鳃太阳鱼使用间歇性推进策略游泳，这种行为在实验室条件下很少观察到。间歇性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获得性，以及在实验室中行为和生理数据收集的适用性，蓝鳃鱼是探索鱼类游泳过程中间歇性推进的潜在好处的理想模型系统。该项目将使用3D水下摄像技术，对鱼类在该领域的游泳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，并测试关于游泳鱼类间歇推进的潜在能量优势的长期假设。所得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，以确保以与机体适应性相关的方式衡量性能。此外，该项目将为一些本科生和高中生提供研究培训机会，这些学生来自传统上在STEM领域代表性不足的人群。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.