Fin - Other Functions

Other Functions

Reshaping human feet with swim fins, rather like the tail fin of a fish, add thrust and efficiency to the kicks of a swimmer or underwater diver Surfboard fins provide surfers with means to manoeuvre and control their boards. Contemporary surfboards often have a centre fin and two cambered side fins.

Surfboard fins allow surfers to manoeuvre their boards In some Asian countries shark fins are a culinary delicacy

The bodies of reef fishes are often shaped differently from open water fishes. Open water fishes are usually built for speed, streamlined like torpedoes to minimise friction as they move through the water. Reef fish operate in the relatively confined spaces and complex underwater landscapes of coral reefs. For this manoeuvrability is more important than straight line speed, so coral reef fish have developed bodies which optimize their ability to dart and change direction. They outwit predators by dodging into fissures in the reef or playing hide and seek around coral heads. The pectoral and pelvic fins of many reef fish, such as butterflyfish, damselfish and angelfish, have evolved so they can act as brakes and allow complex manoeuvres. Many reef fish, such as butterflyfish, damselfish and angelfish, have evolved bodies which are deep and laterally compressed like a pancake. Their pelvic and pectoral fins are designed differently, so they act together with the flattened body to optimise manoeuvrability.

Some fishes, such as puffer fish, filefish and trunkfish, rely on pectoral fins for swimming and hardly use tail fins at all.

Puffer fish mainly use pectoral fins for swimming Frog fish use fins to walk along the ocean bottom Flying fish use enlarged pectoral fins to glide above the surface of the water

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