title: The hydrodynamics of contact of a marine larva, Bugula neritina, with a cylinder.
abstract: Marine larvae are often considered as drifters that collide with larval collectors as passive particles. The trajectories of Bugula neritina larvae and of polystyrene beads were recorded in the velocity field of a vertical cylinder. The experiments illustrated that the trajectories of larvae and of beads may differ markedly. By considering a larva as a self-propelled mechanical microswimmer, a mathematical model of its motion in the two-dimensional velocity field of a long cylinder was formulated. Simulated larval trajectories were compared with experimental observations. We calculated the ratio η of the probability of contact of a microswimmer with a cylinder to the probability of contact of a passive particle with the cylinder. We found that depending on the ratio S of the swimming velocity of the microswimmer to the velocity of the ambient current, the probability of contact of a microswimmer with a collector may be orders of magnitude larger than the probability of contact of a passive particle with the cylinder: for S≈0.01, η≈1; for S≈0.1, η≈10; and for S≈1, η≈100.
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. zilman@eng.tau.ac.il
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zilman
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Novak
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liberzon
authors.forename: Shimrit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Perkol-Finkel
authors.forename: Yehuda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Benayahu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000502:physiology*; D002013:Bryozoa / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D008863:Microspheres; D008954:Models, Biological; D009068:Movement; D011137:Polystyrenes / Q000737:chemistry; D011336:Probability; D013499:Surface Properties; D013550:Swimming / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D011137:Polystyrenes
keywords: Bugula neritina; contact probability; cylinder; hydrodynamics; larvae; microswimmer; self-propulsion; settlement; trajectories