Fish “Form and Function”

We have known that form influences function, however when it came to fish, empirical data was hard to find. That is, until Harvard graduate student Kara Feilich began her research. And what she found was more complex than anticipated, for evolutionary strategy doesn’t have to be perfection, it just has to be “a little better than its competition” writes Katharine Gammo in Fly Fishing in Salt Waters. “I feel that the results of such work will enable us to better understand in particular the initial the takeoff speeds and accelerative abilities of key fish species,” says John Long, deputy director for research and collections at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, “and that information might one day help the next generation of fishermen improve their catch.”