The Northern Pike have recorded the highest accelerations for marine propulsors. The mean peak acceleration and velocity for a number of trials were found to be 120 ms-2 and 4 ms-1 respectively (Harper and Blake 1990) for live fish. Here, we emulate this fast-start motion and analyze the performance of the Northern Pike, using a mechanical fish. The mechanical fish was made of a PVC head attached to a spring steel frame with aluminum ribs and a plastic tail. A latex rubber sheet was used as the skin of the fish. The set-up used air bearings for frictionless motion with two degrees of freedom. The fish was bent to a C shape using servo motors. The two stages of the fast-start motion of a live fish with preparatory and propulsive strokes were closely replicated with this experimental set-up. The results showed that the acceleration profiles were qualitatively similar to that of the live fish. The objective of this project was to understand the mechanism by which the high acceleration is achieved in live fish. The designed mechanical fish was used to quantify the influence of the timing of each stroke and the shape and stiffness of the tail on the observed peak acceleration.

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Les facteurs de stress biotiques, tels que les parasites, peuvent affecter le fitness d’un animal en modifiant le comportement et la physiologie de l’hôte. Puisque les parasites sont omniprésents et ont des impacts importants sur les communautés écologiques, il importe de comprendre comment et dans quelle mesure ils modifient la vie de leurs hôtes. Ainsi, l’étude de la capacité de performance d’un hôte parasité par le biais de la physiologie et du comportement pourrait fournir une compréhension plus mécanistique des changements phénotypiques de l'hôte pendant l'infection. Nous avons utilisé des crapets-soleil (Lepomis gibbosus) infectés par des trématodes et cestodes comme système modèle pour étudier les effets des endoparasites sur les traits métaboliques et le comportement de fuite de l'hôte. Les traits de performance métaboliques aérobiques (taux métabolique standard et maximal, capacité aérobique) et de performance de fuite (réactivité et temps de réponse à une attaque aérienne simulée) ont été mesurés chez les poissons à travers un gradient d'infection visible (c.-à-d. la prévalence de points noirs sur les poissons) et d’infection non-visible (c.-à-d. causée par des endoparasites, cestodes et trématodes, non-apparents mais quantifiés post-mortem) à l'aide de respiromètres et d'arènes comportementales. Nous avons démontré que la charge parasitaire influence les performances physiologiques et comportementales des crapets-soleil. Nous avons observé une diminution significative des taux métaboliques standard et maximal le long d’un gradient d'infection par des endoparasites non-visibles, mais pas pour une infection visible de type point noir. L'intensité de l'infection par les endoparasites non-visibles était également liée à une diminution de la réponse à une attaque aérienne simulée. Nos résultats suggèrent que l'incorporation de l'infection parasitaire dans les études écologiques, physiologiques et comportementales s’avère essentielle pour identifier et comprendre les causes de la variation des caractères intraspécifiques au sein des populations sauvages. / Biotic stressors, such as parasites, can affect an animal’s fitness through changes to their host’s behaviour and physiology. Since parasites are ubiquitous and have significant impacts on ecological communities, it is important to understand how and to what extent they alter the lives of their hosts. Thus, studying how host performance capacity is affected by parasites through physiology and behaviour could provide a more mechanistic understanding of host phenotypic changes during infection. We used pumpkinseed sunfish, Lepomis gibbosus, infected with endoparasites, including trematodes (the causal agent of black spot disease), as a model system to study the effects of infection on host aerobic metabolic performance and escape behaviour. Aerobic metabolic performance traits (standard and maximum metabolic rate, aerobic scope) and escape response performance traits (responsiveness and response latency to a simulated aerial attack) were measured in fish from across a gradient of visible endoparasite infection (i.e. trematodes causing black spot disease) and non-visible infection (i.e. internal cestodes and trematodes quantified post-mortem) using custom-built respirometers and behavioural arenas. Here, we demonstrate that parasite load is related to the physiological and behavioral performances of wild caught pumpkinseed sunfish. We find a significant decrease in standard metabolic rate and maximal metabolic rate along the gradient of non-visible endoparasite infection but not for visible infection with black spot. Non-visible endoparasite infection intensity was also related to decreased responsiveness to a simulated aerial attack. Our results provide further confirmation that incorporating parasite infection in ecological, physiological and behavioural studies is critical for understanding the causes of intraspecific trait variation in wild animal populations.