Fish Swimming

Series foreword; T.J. Pitcher. Preface. Why is fish swimming an interesting subject? What kind of book is this and who are the expected readers? Acknowledgements. Interactions between fish and water. Introduction. Properties of water. Buoyancy, weight, thrust and drag. The footprints of a fish. Transmission of forces between fish and water. Summary and conclusions. The structure of the swimming apparatus: muscles; Introduction. Lateral muscles and septa. Different muscle fibres. Innervation. Summary and conclusions. The structure of the swimming apparatus: body axis and fins; Introduction. The median septum and vertebral column. Fin rays. Fins. Summary and conclusions; The structure of the swimming apparatus: shape, skin and special adaptations. Introduction. Streamlined bodies. The structure of fish skin. Special adaptions. Summary and conlusions. Fish kinematics: history and methods. Introduction. Historical overview. Methods for kinematic studies on fish. Examples of the analysis of steady, straight swimming. Summary and conclusions. Fish kinematics: swimming movements stride by stride. Introduction. Comparison of kinematic data. Unsteady swimming. Precise kinematics of the tail. Swimming with appendages. Summary and conclusions. Swimming dynamics: work from muscles. Introduction. General muscle physiology and special fish muscles. Muscle function during cyclic strain changes. Maximum muscle twitch frequencies of myotome blocks. Size and temperature effects on contraction velocity. Electromyography. Summary and conclusions. Swimming dynamics: exchange of forces between fish and water. Introduction. Dynamics of interactions between undulating fish and water. Muscle activity from head to tail. Optimum workloops of muscle fibres along the body. Force transfer from head to tail. Bulging muscles as an alternative. Summary and conclusions. The costs of swimming; Introduction. A fair comparison between costs of swimming. Fish swimming costs at optimum speed. Fish in comparison with other swimmers. Summary and conclusions. Ecological implications. Introduction. Speed and endurance. Allocation of energy. Summary and conclusions. References. Author index. Species index. Subject index.