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My
immense interest in the elasmobranchs (the sharks, skates,
and rays) pertains mostly to feeding and prey capture.
To document these types of behaviors, functional morphologists
have typically employed high-speed videography. This video
system is utilized to capture kinematics, or movements
of the head region, which occur rather quickly during
feeding in fishes. |
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Currently, I’m working with the chain catshark Scyliorhinus
retifer (Order: Carcharhiniformes), which is a small
demersal shark that inhabits the deeper waters of the
Northwest Atlantic Ocean. Little is known about the ecology
and behavior of this species mostly due to the limited
accessibility of its deep environment. However, laboratory
investigations may assist the development of knowledge
in these areas. Moreover, research on the feeding kinematics
of S. retifer will undoubtedly provide further
insights into how feeding mechanisms have evolved in sharks.
For my master’s research I am examining the prey
capture behavior of this catshark through quantitative
analysis of several morphological changes in the head
region. This is performed by using a high-speed video
system to capture the behavior and then a biomechanics
program (TEMA pro 2.2) which quantifies the different
head movements. My goal is to gain a better understanding
of foraging behavior in this species and potentially other
deep-sea elasmobranchs, as well as explore conservation
of feeding kinematics within the family Scyliorhinidae. |
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