I am looking into the swimming behaviour of Polyorchis
penicillatus, a small hydromedusan jellyfish found off the coast of BC.
I propose that the jellyfish bell acts as a non-linear harmonic oscillator, such that the animal is able to resonate at many frequencies, and is hence able to benefit from the energy savings associated with resonance.
I propose also that the properties of the bell are fine-tuned to the aquatic environment in which the animal propels itself. That is, the resonant frequency of the bell is matched to the characteristic frequency of the wake produced by the animal's jet propulsion.
In addition to Polyorchis, I am also working on Aglantha digitale, a similar sized animal, but one with two characteristic speeds. When feeding, it pokes along at slow speeds, but when scared, it turns on the overdrive and flees at high speed. I propose that the non-linearity of the spring, coupled with the two muscle fibre types found in Aglantha, will explain how this is possible.
The motivation for studying jellyfish is that they are radially symmetric, and hence essentially two-dimensional fish. This will allow for the first time a complete synthesis of the entire swimming behaviour and mechanics of an aquatic animal.