Hydrodynamics and biomechanics of feeding

One of the hallmarks of fish evolution is the staggering diversification of feeding structures. Fish evolved – sometimes multiple times independently – a highly mobile skull which expands in multiple dimensions, multiple sets of jaws, teeth on multiple bones, novel joints and muscle divisions, and filtering structures inside their mouth cavities. Yet their ability to generate suction flows is conserved, allowing fish to transport the prey from the environment, through the mouth, deep into the esophagus. The last two decades brought new visualization techniques, allowing the reconstruction of the movement of bones, muscles, and fluid during fish feeding. These methods are coupled with advanced computational methods for predicting the dynamics of these motions, allowing a better understanding of the mechanisms that enable fish to feed on a vast diversity of prey. Here we review these mechanisms, with specific attention to recently-discovered ones, and suggest future directions in the study of fish feeding.