Eye movements are coordinated with pectoral fin beats during locomotion in a marine teleost fish

Animals must simultaneously engage multiple functional systems in order to navigate, feed and survive in complex environments. Nearly all vertebrates perform rapid gaze-shifting eye movements called saccades, but we know little about the behaviour of saccades during rhythmic locomotion. This study examined how saccades are coordinated with locomotor movements in a pectoral-fin-propelled teleost fish, Cymatogaster aggregata, the shiner surfperch. Individual fish were filmed swimming in a flow tank at 10 cm s(-1), and timing data were analysed using circular statistics. The results reveal that C. aggregata generates saccades non-uniformly throughout the pectoral fin cycle. Saccades primarily occur during fin abduction, when a large amount of thrust is produced, and rarely occur during the thrust-free refractory phase. Because vision is known to be impaired during saccades, we hypothesize that C. aggregata synchronizes saccades with periods of high acceleration in order to stabilize retinal images during low-acceleration phases, which are nearly saccade-free.