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Bainbridge, R. (1958). The speed of swimming as related to size and to the frequency and amplitude of the tail beat. Journal of Experimental Biology. 35:129-153.
The author describes an apparatus in which it is possible to study and record the continuous swimming of fish at speeds up to 20 m.p.h. Records made of the swimming at different speeds of dace, trout, and goldfish measuring up to 30 cm in length are reproduced. Speed at any particular frequency of tail beat is shown to be directly related to the length of the specimen. Above a frequency of 5 tail beats per second, speed is directly dependent upon frequency up to the maximum values recorded. The results for all sizes and species recorded may be adequately expressed by the formula V=1/4{L(3f-4)}, where V = the speed in cm/sec, f = the frequency in beats per second, and L is the body length in cm. The distance travelled per beat (and hence the speed) is directly dependent upon the amplitude of the tailbeat. [abstract generated by bibliography authors]
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/data_library/fisheries/fish_passage/bainbridge.html
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