Research Interests
I am broadly interested in the ecology, evolution and behavior of fishes. My lab uses techniques from biomechanics and neurobiology to quantify and
visualize what is going on outside and inside the animal as it is behaving.
Locomotion in turbulence: My lab is interested in the mechanics, energetics and control of swimming in unsteady flows commonly found in nature.
To simplify this task, our approach is to expose fish to well-characterized wakes of geometric objects such as cylinders. We have found that under certain
conditions swimming fish can exploit these experimentally-generated vortices to decrease muscle activity. Current and future work focuses on the mechanics
and energetics of vortex association for different species behind cylinders, flags and hydrofoils as well as exploring the material stiffness of the body
that enables environmental vortex recapture.
Function and organization of the lateral line: Hair cells of the lateral line system enable “distance touch,” the ability to sense water flow,
which is critical for predator evasion and prey capture. Our lab takes advantage of optical, genetic and electrophysiological techniques in living larval
zebrafish to examine the morphology, connectivity and activity of neurons in the lateral line system. Our work explores the functional organization of
lateral line afferent neurons with the ultimate goal of understanding how the ability to sense hydrodynamic signals can influence swimming
performance.
Representative Publications
Liao, J.C. and Fetcho, J.R. (2008). Shared versus
specialized
glycinergic spinal interneurons in axial motor circuits of larval
zebrafish. The
Journal of Neuroscience Nov 26; 28(48): 12982-92.
Liao, J.C. (2007). A review of fish swimming mechanics and
behavior in
altered flows. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society B. 362
(1487):1973-93.
Liao, J.C. (2006) The role of the lateral line and vision on
body kinematics
and hydrodynamic preference of rainbow trout in turbulent flow. The
Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 4077-4090.
Liao, J.C. (2004). Neuromuscular control of fish swimming in a
vortex
street: implications for energy economy. The Journal of
Experimental
Biology 207, 3495-3506.
Liao, J. C., Beal, D. N., Lauder, G.V., and Triantafyllou,
M.S. (2003). Fish
exploiting vortices use less muscle. Science
302, 1566-1569. (cover
article).
Liao, J. C., Beal, D. N., Lauder, G.V., and Triantafyllou,
M.S. (2003). The
Kármán gait; novel kinematics of rainbow trout swimming in a vortex
street. The
Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 1059-1073. (cover
article).