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High-speed swimming Enhanced power in yellowfin tuna
Journal article   Peer reviewed

High-speed swimming Enhanced power in yellowfin tuna

Douglas A Syme, Robert E Shadwick and Stephen L Katz
Nature (London), Vol.410(6830), pp.770-771
04/12/2001
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/118296
PMID: 11298434

Abstract

Tuna are distinctive among bony fish for their elite swimming ability and their muscle anatomy, having loins of red, aerobic fibres deep within the body where other fish have only white, anaerobic fibres. Here we record the performance of the red muscle of yellowfin tuna in vitro and in vivo to show how this specialized muscle architecture can double the cruising power of these fish, revealing a functional link between this biomechanical design and high-speed swimming.

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