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Updated: Dec 16, 2025

Design and Use of an Apparatus for Quantifying Bivalve Suspension Feeding at Sea
Published on: September 5, 2018
Aquatic suction feeding dynamics: insights from computational modelling
Sam Van Wassenbergh1, Peter Aerts
1Department of Biology, Universiteit Antwerpen, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerpen, Belgium. sam.vanwassenbergh@ua.ac.be
Abstract:
Aquatic suction feeding in vertebrates involves extremely unsteady flow, externally as well as internally of the expanding mouth cavity. Consequently, studying the hydrodynamics involved in this process is a challenging research area, where experimental studies and mathematical models gradually aid our understanding of how suction feeding works mechanically. Especially for flow patterns inside the mouth cavity, our current knowledge is almost entirely based on modelling studies. In the present paper, we critically discuss some of the assumptions and limitations of previous analytical models of suction feeding using computational fluid dynamics.
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