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Amphibious animals adapt their body coordination to compensate for changing substrate properties as they transition between terrestrial and aquatic environments. Using behavioural experiments and mathematical modelling of the amphibious centipede Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans, we reveal an interplay between descending command (brain), local pattern generation, and sensory feedback that controls the leg and body motion during swimming and walking. The elongated and segmented centipede body exhibits a gradual transition in the locomotor patterns as the animal crosses between land and water. Changing environmental conditions elicit a mechano-sensory feedback mechanism, inducing a gait change at the local segment level. The body segments operating downstream of a severed nerve cord (no descending control) can generate walking with mechano-sensory inputs alone while swimming behaviour is not recovered. Integrating the descending control for swimming initiation with the sensory feedback control for walking in a mathematical model successfully generates the adaptive behaviour of centipede locomotion, capturing the possible mechanism for flexible motor control in animals.

Amphibious fishes show wide variation in form and function. Examination of terrestrial locomotion in fishes has largely focused on highly specialized taxa. From an evolutionary perspective we are interested in how relatively unspecialized fishes locomote when exposed to different terrestrial environments. In this study, we explore the locomotory repertoire of the basal actinopterygian Polypterus senegalus. We describe its terrestrial locomotory strategies on different surfaces and compare them with steady aquatic locomotion. Our study is the first to describe axial and appendicular-based terrestrial locomotion across a range of substrates in this species and shows two distinct terrestrial gaits in P. senegalus, each with substantial variation. One uses body undulation against complex surfaces and the other incorporates alternating, supportive pectoral fins to achieve a tetrapod-like gait. Gait use is correlated with substrate. P. senegalus uses body and pectoral fins in diverse ways, showing opportunistic and flexible strategies of navigating novel environments., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

The origin of tetrapods from their fish antecedents, approximately 400 million years ago, was coupled with the origin of terrestrial locomotion and the evolution of supporting limbs. Polypterus is a member of the basal-most group of ray-finned fish (actinopterygians) and has many plesiomorphic morphologies that are comparable to elpistostegid fishes, which are stem tetrapods. Polypterus therefore serves as an extant analogue of stem tetrapods, allowing us to examine how developmental plasticity affects the 'terrestrialization' of fish. We measured the developmental plasticity of anatomical and biomechanical responses in Polypterus reared on land. Here we show the remarkable correspondence between the environmentally induced phenotypes of terrestrialized Polypterus and the ancient anatomical changes in stem tetrapods, and we provide insight into stem tetrapod behavioural evolution. Our results raise the possibility that environmentally induced developmental plasticity facilitated the origin of the terrestrial traits that led to tetrapods.

The locomotor performance of dogfish during escape responses was observed by means of high-speed video. Dogfish show C-type escape responses that are comparable with those shown previously in teleosts. Dogfish show high variability of turning rates of the anterior part of the body (head to centre of mass), i.e. with peak values from 434 to 1023 deg. s(-1). We suggest that this variability may be due to the presence of two types of escape manoeuvres, i.e. responses with high and low turning rates, as previously found in a teleost species. Fast responses (i.e. with high maximum turning rates, ranging between 766 and 1023 deg. s(-1)) showed significantly higher locomotor performance than slow responses (i.e. with low maximum turning rates, ranging between 434 and 593 deg. s(-1)) in terms of distance covered, speed and acceleration, although no differences were found in the turning radius of the centre of mass during the escape manoeuvres. The existence of two types of escape responses would have implications in terms of both neural control and muscular activation patterns. When compared with literature data for the locomotor performance of bony fishes, dogfish showed relatively low speed and acceleration, comparable turning rates and a turning radius that is in the low part of the range when compared with teleosts, indicating relatively high manoeuvrability. The locomotor performance observed in dogfish is consistent with their morphological characteristics: (1) low locomotor performance associated with low thrust developed by their relatively small posterior depth of section and (2) relatively high manoeuvrability associated with their high flexibility.

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Polypterus, a member of the most primitive living group of ray-finned fishes, has demonstrated the ability to perform fin-assisted terrestrial locomotion, a behavior that indicates a complex pectoral musculoskeletal system. Review of the literature reveals that many aspects of the pectoral muscular anatomy of Polypterus are still unclear, with a number of conflicting descriptions. We provide a new interpretation of the pectoral musculature using soft tissue-enhanced microCT scanning and gross anatomical dissection. The results demonstrate a complex musculature, with six independent muscles crossing the glenoid-fin joint. Comparisons with other bony-fish (Osteichthyes), including both ray-finned (Actinopterygii) and lobed-fin (Sarcopterygii) fish, indicate the presence of novel muscles within Polypterus: coracometapterygialis I+II and the zonopropterygialis medialis. Examination of these muscular additions in the context of osteichthyan phylogeny indicates that this represents a previously unrecognized event in the evolution of pectoral musculature in Osteichthyes. Despite its phylogenetic position as a basal actinopterygian, the musculature of Polypterus has more similarities both anatomically and functionally with that of sarcopterygians. This anatomy, along with other features of Polypterus anatomy such as lobed fins, ventral paired lungs, and a large spiracle, may make it a good model for inferences of stem tetrapod locomotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fish swimming has often been simplified into the motions of a two-dimensional slice through the horizontal midline, as though fishes live in a flat world devoid of a third dimension. While fish bodies do undulate primarily horizontally, this motion has important three-dimensional components, and fish fins can move in a complex three-dimensional manner. Recent results suggest that an understanding of the three-dimensional body shape and fin motions is vital for explaining the mechanics of swimming, and that two-dimensional representations of fish locomotion are misleading. In this study, we first examine axial swimming from the two-dimensional viewpoint, detailing the limitations of this view. Then we present data on the kinematics and hydrodynamics of the dorsal fin, the anal fin and the caudal fin during steady swimming and maneuvering in brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus, and yellow perch, Perca flavescens. These fishes actively move the dorsal and anal fins during swimming, resulting in curvature along both anterio-posterior and dorso-ventral axes. The momentum imparted to the fluid by these fins comprises a substantial portion of total swimming force, adding to thrust and contributing to roll stability. While swimming, the caudal fin also actively curves dorso-ventrally, producing vortices separately from both its upper and lower lobes. This functional separation of the lobes may allow additional control of three-dimensional orientation, but probably reduces swimming efficiency. In contrast, fish may boost the caudal fin's efficiency by taking advantage of the flow from the dorsal and anal fins as it interacts with the flow around the caudal fin itself. During maneuvering, fish readily use their fins outside of the normal planes of motion. For example, the dorsal fin can flick laterally, orienting its surface perpendicular to the body, to help in turning and braking. These data demonstrate that, while fish do move primarily in the horizontal plane, neither their bodies nor their motions can accurately be simplified in a two-dimensional representation. To begin to appreciate the functional consequences of the diversity of fish body shapes and locomotor strategies, one must escape Flatland to examine all three dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]