Boxfishes (Teleostei: Ostraciidae) as a model system for fishes swimming with many fins: kinematics

Swimming movements in boxfishes were much more complex and varied than classical descriptions indicated. At low to moderate rectilinear swimming speeds (5 TL s(-1)) was characterized by the use of a caudal burst-and-coast variant. Adduction was always faster than abduction in the pectoral fins. There were no measurable refractory periods between successive phases of the fin movement cycles. Dorsal and anal fin movements were synchronized at speeds greater than 2.5 TL s(-1), but were often out of phase with pectoral fin movements.