SQUID FINS PRODUCE LIFT, THRUST AND STABILITY

摘要

Squid are remarkably versatile swimmers. While most fish find it difficult to reverse, squid are equally happy going backward and forward, swimming tail first at high speeds but arms first when hovering and swimming slowly to survey the area. Although squid generate most of their thrust at high speeds by squeezing jets of water out of the mantel, they are equipped with a versatile pair of mantle fins that ripple and flap at lower speeds. But it wasn't clear exactly how the fins contributed to the animal's agility. Were the fins simply acting as stabilisers, or could they generate thrust to propel the animals? Having previously investigated the way that squid jet around at higher speeds, William Stewart and Ian Bartol from Old Dominion University, USA, and Paul Krueger from Southern Methodist University, USA, decided to find out more about the way the squid use their fins while swimming (p. 2009).