Open AccessMedium compensation in a spring-actuated system
Author(s) -
Kathryn D. Feller,
Gregory P. Sutton,
Paloma T. Gonzalez-Bellido
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of experimental biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.367
H-Index - 185
eISSN - 1477-9145
pISSN - 0022-0949
DOI - 10.1242/jeb.208678
Subject(s) - mantis , drag , spring (device) , compensation (psychology) , falling (accident) , underwater , marine engineering , control theory (sociology) , mechanics , physics , environmental science , geology , computer science , engineering , biology , ecology , artificial intelligence , oceanography , mechanical engineering , psychology , control (management) , psychoanalysis , medicine , environmental health
Mantis shrimp strikes are one of the fastest animal movements, despite their occurrence in a water medium with viscous drag. Since the strike is produced by a latch-mediated spring-actuated system and not directly driven by muscle action, we predicted that strikes performed in air would be faster than underwater due to reduction in the medium's drag. Using high-speed video analysis of stereotyped strikes elicited from Squilla mantis, we found the exact opposite: strikes are much slower and less powerful in air than in water. S. mantis strikes in air have a similar mass and performance to latch-mediated spring-actuated jumps in locusts, suggesting a potential threshold for the energetics of a 1-2 g limb rotating in air. Drag forces induced by the media may be a key feature in the evolution of mantis shrimp strikes and provide a potential target for probing the braking system of these extremely fast movements.