Abstract
Turning is important for ecological success in the oceans. It is essential for capturing prey, escaping predators, and navigating complex environments. Although squids are central to food web dynamics, little is known quantitatively about their turning dynamics. To assess turning capacity of neritic squids, quantify the role of propulsors and orientation in turning, and determine if jet flow is predictive of performance, kinematic and 3D velocimetry data were collected from the longfin squid Doryteuthis pealeii and shortfin squid Illex illecebrosus and combined with a subset of data from a prior study of brief squid Lolliguncula brevis. All animals were captured in Maine (43.8° N, 69.6° W) and Virginia (37.6° N, 75.7° W) waters. Experiments were conducted in July–October 2018 and 2019. Lolliguncula brevis was the most proficient at turning, with the highest mean and maximum angular velocity (\(\varOmega\)mean, \(\varOmega\)max) and the lowest minimum length-specific turning radius (R/Lmin). Relative to the fins, the pulsed jet contributed to a greater percentage of impulse magnitude and angular impulse (71–72%) during turns in all squids. Arms-first turns, which were powered by short jets, were associated with lower mean and minimum length-specific turning radii (R/Lmean, R/Lmin) than tail-first turns. Greater \(\varOmega\)mean and \(\varOmega\)max were achieved during tail-first turns for L. brevis and I. illecebrosus and arms-first turns for D. pealeii, with jet velocity/impulse being the primary factor contributing to these differences. While the jet was the main driver of turns, no one jet property predicted performance across the squids, with jet length-to-diameter ratio, velocity, and frequency all playing roles.
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The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the National Science Foundation for their generous support. We also thank Mohammadreza Zharfa and Kai Bartol for their assistance in animal capture and data collection and the Darling Marine Center for hosting the authors.
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This project was supported by the National Science Foundation (IOS 1557669, 1557698, and 1557838 to I.K.B., P.S.K., and J.T.T.).
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Conceptualization: IKB, PSK, JTT; Methodology: IKB, PSK, AMG; Software: PSK; Validation: IKB, PSK, AMG; Formal analysis: IKB, AMG, ANT, SMB; Investigation: IKB, AMG, ANT, PSK; Resources: IKB; Data curation: IKB, AMG; Writing – original draft: IKB; Writing—review & editing: AMG, SMB, ANT, PSK, JTT; Visualization: IKB, AMG; Supervision: IKB; Project administration: IKB; Funding acquisition: IKB, PSK, JTT.
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Bartol, I.K., Ganley, A.M., Tumminelli, A.N. et al. Turning performance and wake dynamics of neritic squids. Mar Biol 170, 73 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-023-04214-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-023-04214-3