A computational approach of locomotion, energy demand and dispersal of the common comatulid crinoid Promachocrinus kerguelensis (Echinodermata) and its circum-Antarctic success

• Main Author: Owsianowski, Nils
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Life sciences; biology; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://oops.uni-oldenburg.de/5360/; http://oops.uni-oldenburg.de/5360/8/owscom21.pdf

This study presents an analytical-numerical approach to analyse and evaluate the swimming performance and success of the common comatulid crinoid Promachocrinus kerguelensis in the Southern Ocean. The basis is a locomotion analysis performed on an idealised computational model, whose kinematics were derived from swimming individuals and their virtual shape from morphological measurements. Swimming speed and energy demand could be determined using analytical fluid mechanics and inverse dynamics. Their mutual dependencies resulted in the most energy-efficient locomotion, the Maximum Range Velocity (MRV). At a travel speed of ~3 cm s-1, P. kerguelensis requires about 12 cal h-1, while its daily metabolic requirement was determined to be ~3.5 cal day-1. The results from a migration model based on swimming performance, pelagic life phase as plankton, metabolism, food supply from Net Primary Production (NPP) as well as ocean and tidal currents are consistent with the areas where P. kerguelensis has been found so far.