Swimming kinematics of the Caribbean reef shark, Carcharhinus perezi

The Caribbean reef shark, Carcharhinus perezi, is known to rest on the substrate, a behaviour not documented in any of its congeners. We quantified the swimming kinematics of C. perezi in the wild and found that the head yawed at a frequency 15% greater than the tail beat, but that the amplitude of the tail exceeded the head yaw by approximately 80% across the range of velocities measured. We found that C. perezi velocity, head yaw frequency, and tailbeat frequency were all less than its obligate ram ventilating congener C. limbatus.