Skull Biomechanics and Suction Feeding in Fishes

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the basic morphological structure of fish skulls, identify the principles of musculoskeletal biomechanics that transfer force and motion in fish feeding systems, and illustrate modifications of the basic pattern of prey capture that characterize some of the primary feeding modes in fishes. The evolutionary history of feeding biomechanics in fishes is a fascinating story of change in the structure and function of kinetic vertebrate skulls. From batoids to balistoids, there is a spectacular diversity of skull form and feeding mechanisms among fishes, from sit‐and‐wait predators that use high suction forces to engulf their prey, to species that chase their prey during an attack, and to fishes that remove pieces of their food using a biting strategy. The diversity of fishes and their feeding strategies, the importance of fish feeding to both freshwater and marine ecology, and the wide range of technological tools such as high‐speed video, electromyography, sonomicrometry, and fluid mechanics used in feeding studies have coalesced to make fish feeding one of the most fruitful areas of functional and evolutionary morphology. First, fish skulls are highly kinetic musculoskeletal systems with numerous movable elements. The dynamics of skull motion during rapid feeding events have thus been a prime focus of both theoretical and experimental research in biomechanics.