Jet propulsion in the cold: mechanics of swimming in the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki
Unlike most bivalves, scallops are able to swim, relying on a shell with reduced mass and streamlined proportions, a large fast-twitch adductor muscle and the elastic characteristics of the shell's hinge. Despite these adaptations, swimming in scallops is never far from failure, and it is surpr...
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fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:jexbio:209/22/4503 2023-05-15T13:37:21+02:00 Jet propulsion in the cold: mechanics of swimming in the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki Denny, Mark Miller, Luke 2006-11-15 00:00:00.0 text/html http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/209/22/4503 https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.02538 en eng Company of Biologists http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/209/22/4503 http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.02538 Copyright (C) 2006, Company of Biologists Research Article TEXT 2006 fthighwire https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.02538 2013-05-26T21:54:08Z Unlike most bivalves, scallops are able to swim, relying on a shell with reduced mass and streamlined proportions, a large fast-twitch adductor muscle and the elastic characteristics of the shell's hinge. Despite these adaptations, swimming in scallops is never far from failure, and it is surprising to find a swimming scallop in Antarctica, where low temperature increases the viscosity of seawater, decreases the power output of the adductor muscle and potentially compromises the energy storage capability of the hinge material (abductin, a protein rubber). How does the Antarctic scallop, Adamussium colbecki , cope with the cold? Its shell mass is substantially reduced relative to that of temperate and tropical scallops, but this potential advantage is more than offset by a drastic reduction in adductor-muscle mass. By contrast, A. colbecki 's abductin maintains a higher resilience at low temperatures than does the abductin of a temperate scallop. This resilience may help to compensate for reduced muscle mass, assisting the Antarctic scallop to maintain its marginal swimming ability. However, theory suggests that this assistance should be slight, so the adaptive value of increased resilience remains open to question. The high resilience of A. colbecki abductin at low temperatures may be of interest to materials engineers. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica HighWire Press (Stanford University) Antarctic The Antarctic Journal of Experimental Biology 209 22 4503 4514 |
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Research Article Denny, Mark Miller, Luke Jet propulsion in the cold: mechanics of swimming in the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki |
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Research Article |
description |
Unlike most bivalves, scallops are able to swim, relying on a shell with reduced mass and streamlined proportions, a large fast-twitch adductor muscle and the elastic characteristics of the shell's hinge. Despite these adaptations, swimming in scallops is never far from failure, and it is surprising to find a swimming scallop in Antarctica, where low temperature increases the viscosity of seawater, decreases the power output of the adductor muscle and potentially compromises the energy storage capability of the hinge material (abductin, a protein rubber). How does the Antarctic scallop, Adamussium colbecki , cope with the cold? Its shell mass is substantially reduced relative to that of temperate and tropical scallops, but this potential advantage is more than offset by a drastic reduction in adductor-muscle mass. By contrast, A. colbecki 's abductin maintains a higher resilience at low temperatures than does the abductin of a temperate scallop. This resilience may help to compensate for reduced muscle mass, assisting the Antarctic scallop to maintain its marginal swimming ability. However, theory suggests that this assistance should be slight, so the adaptive value of increased resilience remains open to question. The high resilience of A. colbecki abductin at low temperatures may be of interest to materials engineers. |
format |
Text |
author |
Denny, Mark Miller, Luke |
author_facet |
Denny, Mark Miller, Luke |
author_sort |
Denny, Mark |
title |
Jet propulsion in the cold: mechanics of swimming in the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki |
title_short |
Jet propulsion in the cold: mechanics of swimming in the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki |
title_full |
Jet propulsion in the cold: mechanics of swimming in the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki |
title_fullStr |
Jet propulsion in the cold: mechanics of swimming in the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki |
title_full_unstemmed |
Jet propulsion in the cold: mechanics of swimming in the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki |
title_sort |
jet propulsion in the cold: mechanics of swimming in the antarctic scallop adamussium colbecki |
publisher |
Company of Biologists |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/209/22/4503 https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.02538 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
op_relation |
http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/209/22/4503 http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.02538 |
op_rights |
Copyright (C) 2006, Company of Biologists |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.02538 |
container_title |
Journal of Experimental Biology |
container_volume |
209 |
container_issue |
22 |
container_start_page |
4503 |
op_container_end_page |
4514 |
_version_ |
1766090627480551424 |