Flipping fish adapt to land living
2013-07-06
(Press-News.org) VIDEO:
The fish lift the head and tail up off the ground toward each other, creating a "c " shape with the body.
Click here for more information.
Researchers have found that the amphibious mangrove rivulus performs higher force jumps on land than some other fishes that end up on land. This new study shows that unlike the largemouth bass, which makes very few excursions on land, the mangrove rivulus, which can live out of water for extended periods, has a strong jumping technique on land to locate new food resources, avoid predators, escape poor water conditions and also to return to the water.
A team of researchers headed by Benjamin Perlman at Wake Forest University in the United States, filmed juvenile largemouth bass and amphibious mangrove rivulus jumping off a force plate when startled with the end of a stick, and then compared the forces of their jumps.
The largemouth bass uses a common jumping technique to return to the water when stranded on land, a "c-jump", so called because it creates a "c" form with the body. The mangrove rivulus on the other hand does a "tail flip", whereby it flips its head over its body towards the tail end to jump away from a stimulus.
VIDEO:
The fish move the head and tail into the ground, creating a "c " shape with the body.
Click here for more information.
The researchers found striking differences in these fish's jumping forces: the bass generates forces mostly in the vertical direction, which means that it basically just goes up without moving sideways; the mangrove rivulus generates the greatest forces in the antero-posterior (front-back) and medio-lateral (side-to-side) dimensions, which allows it to effectively move in a particular direction.
Benjamin Perlman said: "Bass are very poor performers at jumping on land, as expected since they very rarely make terrestrial excursions. The amphibious rivulus is better adapted to land living and capable of directing its jumps on land using more forceful jumps".
VIDEO:
The fish lie on the side or along the ventral surface and lift the head off the ground, rotate it over the body towards the tail end and jump away.
Click here for more information.
Mangrove rivulus, which can live out of the water for extended periods of time (days or weeks, as long as the conditions are moist), uses its specialised jumping technique when water has low oxygen concentrations or high levels of hydrogen sulphide, or to escape predators and search for terrestrial prey such as crickets. Bass are only temporarily stranded on land when chased out of the water by a predator, caught in a current and washed onto land, or leaping out of the water to catch a fly or other prey.
### END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2013-07-06
Research conducted by Sandy Kawano and Richard Blob at Clemson University compared terrestrial locomotion in tiger salamanders and mudskipper fish, which have similar characteristics to early tetrapod ancestors.
The researchers filmed these organisms as they walked over a force platform which measures forces like a bathroom scale but separates them into 3 directions (upward, fore-aft, and side-to-side). They compared the forces experienced by the pectoral fins of the mudskipper fishes to the forelimbs and hind limbs of walking tiger salamanders. The results showed that ...
2013-07-06
Dr Nicolai Konow (Brown University, USA), who led the research said: "Energy is stored in the triceps tendon, which is used to power elbow extension – in essence, elbow extension happens using "recycled" energy. State of knowledge, and our results, indicates that bats are unique among small mammals in stretching their tendons, as small mammal limb tendons are thought to be too thick and stiff to be stretched."
"By combining information about skeletal movement with information about muscle mechanics, we found that the biceps and triceps tendons of small fruitbats are stretched ...
2013-07-06
Why do so many mothers have difficulty making enough milk to breastfeed? A new study by scientists at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of California Davis adds to their previous research implicating insulin's role in lactation success.
The study is the first to describe how the human mammary gland becomes highly sensitive to insulin during lactation. It is also the first study to get an accurate picture of how specific genes are switched on in the human mammary gland during lactation.
The researchers used next generation sequencing ...
2013-07-06
The genes that code for proteins—more than 20,000 in total—make up only about 1 percent of the complete human genome. That entire thing—not just the genes, but also genetic junk and all the rest—is coiled and folded up in any number of ways within the nucleus of each of our cells. Think, then, of the challenge that a protein or other molecule, like RNA, faces when searching through that material to locate a target gene.
Now a team of researchers led by newly arrived biologist Mitchell Guttman of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Kathrin Plath of UCLA, ...
2013-07-06
How do ideas spread? What messages will go viral on social media, and can this be predicted?
UCLA psychologists have taken a significant step toward answering these questions, identifying for the first time the brain regions associated with the successful spread of ideas, often called "buzz."
The research has a broad range of implications, the study authors say, and could lead to more effective public health campaigns, more persuasive advertisements and better ways for teachers to communicate with students.
"Our study suggests that people are regularly attuned ...
2013-07-06
It's squishy, synthetic, flexible, mostly water and almost as tough as rubber.
No, it's not "flubber" — it's a hydrogel, and now scientists at The University of Akron are exploring new biomedical uses for this polymer-based product.
Dr. Jie Zheng, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and Dr. Robert Weiss, Hezzleton E. Simmons professor and chair of polymer engineering, are among the most recent to contribute to the growing research of hydrogels, the gelatinous substance that, because of its toughness and plasticity, has several biomedical applications, ...
2013-07-06
There are two tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific Ocean on July 5 and one is powering up and one is powering down. NOAA's GOES-15 satellite captured Tropical Depression Dalila and Tropical Storm Erick, both off the western coast of Mexico. Because Erick is strengthening and is close to the coast, tropical storm warnings have gone into effect for Mexico.
Tropical Depression Dalila has weakened from a Category 1 hurricane status and is expected to dissipate in the next day or two. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Erick grew from a low pressure area called System 97E into ...
2013-07-06
NASA's Aqua satellite captured multiple images of fire and smoke from Canadian wildfires on July 4, 2013. The images were stitched together to form a visual quilt.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument that flies aboard Aqua captured the images. MODIS has the ability to detect hot spots (fires), which appear red in the image. Plumes of smoke from various wildfires can be seen blowing across many of the Canadian provinces and out over the Atlantic Ocean.
As of July 5, the government of Saskatechewan reported 17 wildfires. British Columbia has ...
2013-07-06
Many black or racially mixed women in Venezuela are undergoing nose jobs in an effort to look whiter, but the procedure only temporarily improves their self-esteem and body image in a culture that values whiteness, a Dartmouth College study finds.
Cosmetic surgery is increasingly common in many countries, including Venezuela, where an obsession with physical appearance prompts many women to get breast implants, face lifts, liposuction and other cosmetic procedures. But the trend has also sparked controversy -- the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez blamed cosmetic ...
2013-07-06
Researchers have designed droplets using a technique that could have applications for everything from extracting oil from wells to creating makeup and food.
You've seen Hollandaise sauce or mayonnaise that has separated, or that shiny layer of oil that forms on top of skin cream. This mixture of water and oil is called an emulsion, but it can be difficult to keep emulsions from separating. A special substance called an emulsifier is used to keep the mixture stable and prevent separation.
This is an ongoing problem for the food and medical industries, as well as for ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Flipping fish adapt to land living
