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Name: Sara
Status: Educator
Age: 20s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: April 2003
Question:
Hello. First I would like to thank you for a previous answer and to say it really helped me out.


Replies:
I think that to say adaptation to the environment of any creature is "perfect" is an exaggeration. Adaptations work, in that the creatures survive and reproduce, but evolution and adaptation are sloppy processes that produce far from perfect results. Different species of fish live in different types of water - flowing or still, shallow or deep, etc. etc., and even within one body of water there are niches with different environmental demands or resources. The web sites below might be of some help in learning about different kinds of locomotion in fish.

http://www.fisheriesmanagement.co.uk/Fish%20Studies/locomotion_study.htm

http://www.ece.eps.hw.ac.uk/Research/oceans/projects/flaps/fishlink.htm

J. Elliott


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