Field swimming behavior in largemouth bass deviates from predictions based on economy and propulsive efficiency

Locomotion is energetically expensive. This may create selection pressures that favor economical locomotor strategies, such as the adoption of low-cost speeds and efficient propulsive movements. For swimming fish, the energy expended to travel a unit distance, or cost of transport (COT), has a U-shaped relationship to speed. The relationship between propulsive kinematics and speed, summarized by the Strouhal number (St=fA/U, where f is tail beat frequency, A is tail tip amplitude in m and U is swimming speed in m s^-1), allows for maximal propulsive efficiency where 0.2<St<0.4. Largemouth bass adopted field speeds that were generally below the range predicted to minimize their COT. This may reflect speed modulation to meet competing functional demands such as enabling effective prey detection and capture. St exceeded the optimal range for the lowest observed swimming speeds. Mechanical and physiological constraints may prevent adoption of efficient St during low-speed swimming.