Sucker with a fat lip: The soft tissues underlying the viscoelastic grip of remora adhesion

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2020

Abstract

Remoras are fishes that attach to a broad range of hosts using an adhesive disc on their head that is derived from dorsal fin elements. Research on the adhesive mechanism of remoras has focused primarily on the skeletal components of the disc and their contribution to generating suction and friction. However, the soft tissues of the disc, such as the soft lip surrounding the bony disc and the muscles that control the bony lamellae, have been largely ignored. To understand the sealing mechanism of the disc, it is imperative to understand the tissue morphology and material properties of the soft lip. Here, we show that the soft lip surrounding the remora disc is comprised of discrete multilayered collagen, fat, and elastic tissues which we hypothesize to have specific roles in the viscoelastic sealing mechanism of the remora disc. The central, heavily vascularized fat and collagen layer are infiltrated by strands of elastic tissue and surrounded by crossed-fiber collagen. A newly described jubilee muscle underneath the adhesive disc provides a mechanism for stopping venous return from the disc lip, thereby allowing it to become engorged and create a pressurized fit to the attachment substrate. Thus, the remora lip acts as a vascular hydrostat.

Identifier

85085686511 (Scopus)

Publication Title

Journal of Anatomy

External Full Text Location

https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.13227

e-ISSN

14697580

ISSN

00218782

PubMed ID

32484929

First Page

643

Last Page

654

Issue

4

Volume

237

Fund Ref

Nanjing Institute of Technology

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