Authors:

Gabriela Garcia Cardenas

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About Paper:

Relatively little is studied on fish skin mucus, but it is believed to protect against infection and improve swimming hydrodynamics by decreasing friction drag. Some studies have demonstrated that drag reduction is influenced by the rheological properties of the mucus, but these ideas have only been demonstrated in a few fish species. Currently, there is a foundational gap in our knowledge of the physical properties of skin mucus across fish species. In this project, we will try to fill these gaps by: 1) measuring the rheological properties of mucus, such as viscosity; 2) testing if mucus properties, such as production, vary among species; and 3) examining if mucus properties are related to body shape, scale presence, or fish habitat. For mucus collection, 14 species of fishes were held. Then mucus was gently scraped using clean bare hands and a metallic spatula. First, to measure viscosity for each species, a rheometer was used at different shear rates that were biologically relevant for fish swimming speeds. Preliminary results indicate that fish mucus is shear thinning, meaning it displays a lower viscosity with increased shearing rate. Second, we ask which species produced the most mucus by measuring mucus volume collected for each species, corrected by the total mass of all sampled fish for that species. Preliminary results indicate that Anguilla rostrata (Eel) is the species that produces the most mucus. This study explores the rheological properties of mucus with the expectation that these contribute to drag reduction and reflect species-specific adaptations. Keywords: Rheology; Non-Newtonian Fluid; Fish Slime; Viscoelasticity; Friction Drag

Source:

Purdue University / 2025

Topics:

No topics listed

Co-authors:

Gabriela Garcia Cardenas