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Updated: Aug 5, 2026

Biophysical Characterization of Flagellar Motor Functions
Published on: January 18, 2017
Adaptive gyration mechanism in fan worm gill filaments for enhanced filter-feeding efficiency
Xinxin Chen1, Wei Jiang2, Jiangkun Wei2
1School of Advanced Manufacturing, Sun Yat-Sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China.
Abstract:
Efficient filter-feeding in varying aquatic flows necessitates specialized adaptations in morphology and motion. Notably, the specialized gill filaments of a fan worm (Annelida: Sabellidae) exhibit remarkable motion flexibility, enabling efficient filter-feeding in variable flow conditions, which present a physical/mechanical intelligence in the ocean environment. These soft gill filaments, characterized by their V-shaped cross-section, can passively gyrate in response to water flow, a behavior driven by fluid-induced unbalanced torsion. Two paradigms of robotic gill filaments (RoboGFs) were created, demonstrating that such passive adaptation enhances the particle capture rate by an average of 141% compared to a completely rigid design. These findings may inspire the development of efficient particle-capturing devices suitable for use in unpredictable aquatic environments.
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