In order to improve the performance of AUVs in terms of efficiency and maneuverability, researchers have proposed biomimetic propulsion systems that swim using flapping fins rather than rotary propellers. This calls for the exploration of unique locomotion characteristics found in a variety of fish for use in underwater robots. (Sfakiotakis et. al., 1999) present a good review of fish swimming ...

As a result of years of research on the comparative biomechanics and physiology of moving through water, biologists and engineers have made considerable progress in understanding how animals moving underwater use their muscles to power movement, in describing body and appendage motion during propulsion, and in conducting experimental and computational analyses of fluid movement and attendant fo...

A new species of Clariger Jordan & Snyder, 1901 was collected from northern Taiwan. The genus was previously known only from Japanese waters. This discovery is the first formal and southernmost record of these marine gobies from the waters of subtropical Taiwan. The new species, Clariger taiwanensissp. n., is distinguished from its congeners by a unique combination of features: (1) fin rays: do...

Extracellular matrix plays a dynamic role during the process of wound healing, embryogenesis and tissue regeneration. Caudal fin regeneration in zebrafish is an excellent model to study tissue and skeletal regeneration. We have analyzed the expression pattern of some of the well characterized ECM proteins during the process of caudal fin regeneration in zebrafish. Our results show that a transi...

Parotocinclus planicauda, a new species from a tributary of the Doce River drainage in Minas Gerais State, Brazil, is distinguished from all other species of the genus by the presence of a caudal peduncle almost quadrangular in cross section; the anterior position of the adipose fin, close to the dorsal fin insertion; and very small orbits. A key to the Parotocinclus species of eastern Brazilia...

The dermal layers of several elasmobranch species have been shown to be sexually dimorphic. Generally, when this occurs the females have thicker dermal layers compared to those of males. This sexual dimorphism has been suggested to occur as a response to male biting during mating. Although male biting as a copulatory behaviour in Scyliorhinus canicula has been widely speculated to occur, only r...

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...

A new bariline fish, Barilius kamjongensis is decribed from Kamjong district, the Chindwin basin of Manipur, India. It can be distinguished its congeners in having a body with 2 pairs barbels, 16–19 predorsal scales, 12–15 bars, 40–43 perforated lateral line 7.5/2.5 transverse origin dorsal-fin closed to base caudal-fin, pectoral-fin shorter than head length, depth at 22.8–26.6 % SL, caudal ped...

In this work, numerical simulations are conducted to reveal the hydrodynamic mechanism of caudal fin propulsion. In the modeling of a bionic caudal fin, a universal kinematics model with three degrees of freedom is adopted and the flexible deformation in the spanwise direction is considered. Navier-Stokes equations are used to solve the unsteady fluid flow and dynamic mesh method is applied to ...

The study of regeneration in an in vivo vertebrate system has the potential to reveal targetable genes and pathways that could improve our ability to heal and repair damaged tissue. We have developed a system for clonal labeling of discrete cell lineages and independently inducing gene expression under control of the heat shock promoter in the zebrafish caudal fin. Consequently we are able to t...