Optimality of Metachronal Paddling in Crustacean Swimming

Crayfish and other long-tailed crustaceans swim by rhythmically moving four or five pairs of limbs. Despite variations in limb size and stroke frequency, movements of ipsilateral limbs always maintain a tail-to-head metachronal rhythm with an approximate quarter-period inter-limb phase difference. Relatively few studies have examined the fluid dynamics of metachronal limb stroke for the range of Reynolds numbers at which crustaceans operate. Here, we use a computational fluid dynamics model to explore the performance of different paddling rhythms. We show that the natural tail-to-head metachronal rhythm with an approximate quarter-period phase difference is the most effective and efficient rhythm across a wide range of Reynolds numbers.