Logan Steele
Sharks are fish that have no bones, only cartilage. This allows them to move up and down in the ocean with minimal effort. They have a complex system of muscles that work together to create powerful movements. The locomotor system in sharks has been studied for decades, with the earliest investigations beginning in the 1930s by Sir James Gray. The muscular system of sharks is quite different from that of bony fish, with unique adaptations that allow them to be efficient predators in the water.
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What You'll Learn
- Sharks have two types of muscles: red and white
- Red muscle generates heat, allowing sharks to regulate their body temperature
- White muscle is anaerobic and powers the shark's continuous swimming
- Sharks have a complex dermal corset that provides attachment for their swimming muscles
- Other muscles control the shark's fins, allowing them to steer and stabilise themselves in the water
Sharks have two types of muscles: red and white
Sharks are cartilaginous fish with a flexible and lightweight body structure. They possess two types of muscles to facilitate movement: red muscles and white muscles.
The red muscle, or the red locomotor muscle (RM), is an aerobic muscle that powers the shark's continuous swimming. It breaks down fat in the shark's body and has a good blood supply, allowing the shark to swim for long periods. The RM produces approximately 25-50% of a shark's power and thrives in elevated temperatures, typically between 20 to 30 degrees Celsius. This muscle is responsible for the shark's tail movement and propulsion through the water. The tail contracts and then stiffens, allowing the shark to coast through the water efficiently.
On the other hand, the white muscle, or the white locomotor muscle (WM), is responsible for short, fast sprints. It uses energy from the breakdown of glycogen (sugars) to provide sudden bursts of speed. While white muscle comprises only a small percentage of human muscle, it makes up over 90% of a shark's muscle mass. The Great White Shark and other lamnid sharks have augmented their swimming muscles with bands of red muscle along their flanks, granting them greater swimming endurance.
The arrangement of muscle fibres in sharks is unique. Unlike bony fish, where muscle fibres loop back on themselves, shark muscle fibres attach to tough longitudinal struts composed of connective tissue. These struts provide auxiliary muscle attachment points along the flanks, compensating for the lack of ribs. Additionally, sharks have a complex dermal corset made of flexible collagenous fibres that surround their body. This acts as an outer skeleton, providing attachment points for their swimming muscles and saving energy.
The shape of a shark's body, resembling a torpedo, also contributes to its efficient movement in the water. The fusiform body, with its cylindrical shape and narrowing edges, minimises the effort required for swimming. The shark's head plays a crucial role in movement, with the back-and-forth motion creating high and low-pressure areas in the body. The tail, fins, and skin further enhance the shark's hydrodynamic advantages, allowing it to glide effortlessly through the water.
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Red muscle generates heat, allowing sharks to regulate their body temperature
Sharks have a unique ability to regulate their body temperature, which is a function of their musculature. This is particularly true of Lamnid sharks, such as the Great White and Mako, which are able to elevate their body temperature by up to 20 degrees Celsius above the surrounding environment. This is achieved through a special arrangement of blood vessels and muscles.
Sharks have two types of muscles that enable movement: red muscle and white muscle. The red muscle, or slow-oxidative muscle, is used for long-duration, low-intensity activity and generates a lot of heat through its aerobic metabolism. This heat generation is essential for thermoregulation in sharks, allowing them to maintain a warm body temperature even in cold waters. By maintaining a higher body temperature, sharks ensure that their chemical reactions remain efficient, which is crucial for their predatory nature.
The red muscle is found along the midline of the shark's body and makes up a significant portion of its muscle mass. It powers the continuous swimming of sharks, contributing approximately 25-50% of a shark's power. The red muscle functions optimally at temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius, and its temperature is retained metabolically, often far above the external water temperature. This elevated temperature allows the red muscle to contract more effectively, providing increased power and speed to the shark.
The ability to regulate body temperature through red muscle heat generation gives sharks a significant physiological advantage. This advantage is particularly evident in the warm-bodied Mackerel sharks, which have a specialised circulatory system that retains and recycles heat. By maintaining a higher body temperature, Mackerel sharks can increase their swimming speeds and strength, making them more effective predators or escape artists.
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White muscle is anaerobic and powers the shark's continuous swimming
Sharks have two types of muscles to ensure movement: the red muscle and the white muscle. The red muscle is an aerobic locomotor muscle (RM) that powers the continuous swimming of sharks. The white muscle, on the other hand, is anaerobic and makes up over 90% of a shark's muscle mass. This is in contrast to humans, where white muscle comprises only a tiny percentage of muscle.
The white muscle is folded into a series of W-shaped segments called myomeres, with one for each vertebra. These nested cones are arranged in complex ways, with some parts of an individual muscle block extending forward and others back to form a series of intermeshing cones. This generates a body wave that propagates smoothly and sinuously along the body and, with the addition of a caudal fin, produces the vast majority of a shark's propulsive force.
The white muscle is responsible for the shark's tail movement, contracting and then stiffening to allow the shark to coast through the water. This tail movement, combined with the shark's body shape, allows the shark to glide easily through the water with minimal effort. The shark's body shape is cylindrical with narrowing edges, such as the tail and keels, creating a torpedo-like shape that minimises resistance when swimming.
The anaerobic white muscle suggests that sharks have strong burst capabilities, which is essential for their hunting and survival strategies. The high proportion of white muscle in sharks contributes to their powerful swimming performance and ability to reach high speeds.
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Sharks have a complex dermal corset that provides attachment for their swimming muscles
Sharks have a unique anatomy that sets them apart from bony fish. One notable difference is the presence of a complex dermal corset made of flexible collagenous fibres arranged in a helical network around their bodies. This dermal corset serves as an external skeleton, providing a firm attachment for the swimming muscles of sharks. This efficient arrangement allows for the direct transmission of muscular force to the tail, enhancing the shark's swimming capabilities.
The dermal corset, also known as the collagen corset, consists of triple-stranded helical coils of collagen fibrils that surround the shark's body. These collagen fibrils are arranged in alternating right- and left-handed helices at various angles to the long axis of the shark. This structural design provides a strong and flexible framework for the attachment of muscles. The collagenous corset acts as an external tendon, optimising the transmission of muscular force and contributing to the shark's powerful swimming movements.
The collagen corset plays a crucial role in the shark's locomotion by preventing energy loss. The attachment of swimming muscles to the corset minimises muscular energy expenditure, allowing sharks to swim with greater efficiency. This efficient energy transfer is similar to the mechanism observed in crustaceans, where muscle attachments to an external skeleton enable even a small crab to deliver a disproportionately strong pinch. The collagen corset in sharks ensures that the muscular energy invested in body flexion during swimming is effectively transferred rearward, contributing to the shark's overall propulsion.
Additionally, the collagen corset helps maintain the body's internal pressure during swimming. The changes in the angle of collagen fibrils prevent tension loss and skin wrinkling, ensuring a smooth and streamlined swimming motion. This structural advantage is further enhanced by the shark's skin, which has microscopic grooves called riblets that reduce drag and friction. Together, the collagen corset and the riblets in the skin enable sharks to move swiftly and almost effortlessly through the water.
In summary, sharks possess a complex dermal corset that serves as an external skeleton, providing a robust attachment site for their swimming muscles. This anatomical feature optimises the transmission of muscular force, enhances swimming efficiency, and contributes to the overall propulsive power of sharks. The collagenous corset, along with the specialised skin structure, showcases the unique adaptations that enable sharks to be highly effective predators in their aquatic environment.
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Other muscles control the shark's fins, allowing them to steer and stabilise themselves in the water
Sharks have muscles that control their fins, allowing them to steer and stabilise themselves in the water. The pectoral fins, located just behind the gill slits, act as a steering wheel and help the shark move up and down in the water column. These fins also provide stability and lift, counteracting the caudal fins, which propel the shark downwards and upwards. The caudal fins are responsible for moving the shark forward.
The body shape of a shark determines its lifestyle and swimming speed. Fast-swimming species, such as the shortfin mako and the great white, have a conical head, large thick body, large pectoral fins, a narrow caudal peduncle with keels, and a symmetrical caudal fin. These physical attributes enable the shark to move quickly through the water.
The shark's dermal corset, made of flexible collagenous fibres, provides attachment for its swimming muscles, saving energy. The dermal teeth give the shark hydrodynamic advantages, reducing turbulence while swimming. The skin of sharks, rough and abrasive like sandpaper, is made up of a substance similar to teeth. The denticles, or dermal denticles, are V-shaped and made of layers of dentine with a surface of enamel. These denticles lie inside channels called riblets, reducing drag and friction during movement.
Sharks have two types of muscle tissue: red and white. The red, aerobic locomotor muscle (RM) powers the shark's continuous swimming, functioning optimally at temperatures of 20 to 30 degrees Celsius. The white locomotor muscle (WM), on the other hand, is not as thermally dependent, allowing for effective functioning across various temperatures. This muscle is crucial for short bursts of speed and the pulsating of the shark's tail, propelling it forward.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, sharks have muscles. They have two types of muscles to ensure movement: the red muscle and the white muscle.
Red muscles are aerobic locomotor muscles that produce heat as they function. They power the continuous swimming of sharks and make up a tiny percentage of human muscle. However, over 90% of a shark's muscle mass is composed of white muscle.
White muscles are anaerobic locomotor muscles that do not require oxygen. They are responsible for sudden bursts of speed in sharks.
