What is it about?
To catch prey, a larval zebrafish performs a rapid sequence of distinct movements. Using behavioral data and computational modeling, we show that the fish minimizes the energy it spends on hunting by adjusting how often it uses each type of movement. Remarkably, this energy-efficient strategy persists even when the energetic costs of movements change during development or across environmental conditions. This suggests that the fish is not following a fixed program, but actively adapting its behavior to changing energy demands.
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Photo by Stötzer Balázs on Unsplash
Why is it important?
These results provide a quantitative link between biomechanics, development, behavior, and principles of optimal control in a freely moving animal. They suggest a general strategy by which animals could adjust movement patterns to conserve energy as bodies grow or environments change. Understanding how animals dynamically balance performance and energetic cost could potentially shed light on fundamental principles of motor control, with implications ranging from evolutionary biology to the design of energy-efficient robotic systems.
Perspectives
I found these results quite unexpected and surprising. They raise a lot of questions about how the fish is sensing energy demands, and then using that information to influence its decision making. Hopefully we can address these questions in the future.
Geoffrey Goodhill
Washington University in Saint Louis
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Larval zebrafish minimize energy consumption during hunting via adaptive movement selection, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, February 2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2513853123.
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