To determine the effect of development and environment on fin growth, we measured fin lengths of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) from two hatcheries (August, October and April–May), stream-reared fish (July and October) stocked as fry into two tributaries, and smolts from the main stem of the Connecticut River (May). For stream-reared parr, there was a linear relationship between the dor...

To determine the energetic costs of rigid-body, median or paired-fin (MPF) swimming versus undulatory, body-caudal fin (BCF) swimming, we measured oxygen consumption as a function of swimming speed in two MPF swimming specialists, Schlegel's parrotfish and Picasso triggerfish. The parrotfish swam exclusively with the pectoral fins at prolonged swimming speeds up to 3.2 total lengths per second ...

Adipose fins are found on approximately 20% of ray-finned fish species. The apparently rudimentary anatomy of adipose fins inspired a longstanding hypothesis that these fins are vestigial and lack function. However, adipose fins have evolved repeatedly within Teleostei, suggesting adaptive function. Recently, adipose fins were proposed to function as mechanosensors, detecting fluid flow anterio...

Effects of the number of fins, fin pitch and wind velocity on air-cooling were investigated using experimental cylinders for an air-cooled engine of a motorcycle. Experimental cylinders that had a various number of fins and fin pitches were tested in a wind tunnel. Then the temperature inside of the cylinder, on the surface of the fins and in the space between the fins was measured. Results ind...

Teleost fishes produce coordinated escape responses (C-starts) at hatching. This implies that essential swimming morphologies and motor behaviors develop during the incubation interval while the embryo is in the chorion. We examined prehatching motor behaviors in rainbow trout Oncorhycus mykiss (considered morphologically mature at hatching) and compared this species with zebrafish Danio rerio ...

Adipose fins are enigmatic appendages found between the dorsal and caudal fins of some teleostean fishes. Long thought to be vestigial, degenerate second dorsal fins, remnants of the primitive gnathostome condition, adipose fins have since been recognized as novel morphologies. Unique among the fins of extant fishes, adipose fins have uniformly been described as passive structures, with no asso...

Fins and limbs, which are considered to be homologous paired vertebrate appendages, have obvious morphological differences that arise during development. One major difference in their development is that the AER (apical ectodermal ridge), which organizes fin/limb development, transitions into a different, elongated organizing structure in the fin bud, the AF (apical fold). Although the role of ...

component of the evolutionary transformation of functional design in ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii). Documenting phylogenetic patterns in the structure of the paired and median fins, and interpreting the functional significance of such patterns, has been the subject of ongoing study by systematists, functional morphologists and hydrodynamicists (e.g. Breder, 1926; Harris, 1953; Aleev, 1969;...

Studies of the kinematics of the pectoral fins in fishes have focused on fins as devices for propulsion or maneuvering. Studying pectoral fin function in benthic fishes is an opportunity to understand how the fins are used in a broader range of fin-based behaviors, especially those involving substrate contact. Morphological specializations of the pectoral fins, hypothesized adaptations for subs...