COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: AN INTEGRATIVE APPROACH TO THE PERFORMANCE AND EVOLUTION OF HIGH PERFORMANCE SUCTORIAL DISKS IN FISHES

这项研究将结合比较生理学家、工程师和系统学家的技能，揭开吸盘的性能、设计原理和进化，它允许一些鱼粘在岩石上。这些鱼被称为粘鱼，它们附着在被污染的不规则底物上，在猛烈的海浪中，同时发动觅食攻击，从岩石上撬开帽贝。这项工作将包括一个现场部件，用于测量现场衬底的不规则性，一个纯粹的建模部件，试图了解磁盘形状和材料特性对吸力的影响，以及一个系统发育调查部件。在这次调查中，将量化来自世界各地的粘鱼的吸力，并将使用系统发育方法确定粘鱼物种之间的关系。还将调查圆盘的形状和底层结构。这些研究的结果将存储在几个公共数据库中，包括Genbank、生命之树和一个定制的形态数据数据库，如CT扫描。这笔赠款的其他更广泛的影响包括开发可用于外科或机器人环境的仿生吸力系统，开发用于模拟软物质相互作用的工具，在K12和本科生层面进行教育和推广，以及支持研究生教育。

This research will combine the skills of a comparative physiologist, an engineer, and a systematist to unravel the performance, design principals, and evolution of the sucker disk that allows some fishes to cling to rocks. These fishes, called clingfish, adhere to fouled, irregular substrates in pounding surf and while launching feeding attacks to pry limpets from the rocks. The work will involve a field component to measure the irregularity of substrates in the field, a pure modeling component that seeks to understand the effects of disk shape and material properties on suction, and a phylogenetic survey component. In the survey the suction abilities of clingfishes from all over the world will be quantified and the relationships among clingfish species will be determined using phylogenetic methods. The shape and underlying structure of the disk will also be investigated. The results of these studies will be deposited in several public databases, including Genbank, Tree of Life, and a custom database for morphological data such as CT scans. Other broader impacts of the grant include the development of biomimetic suction systems that could be used in surgical or robotic settings, development of tools for modeling soft matter interactions, education and outreach at the K12 and undergraduate level, and support of graduate education.