Figure 3. Comparative energetic swimming performance of bony fishes.

Three coral reef and sixteen other non-scombrid fishes are presented alongside six scombrid (tuna-like) fishes of varying body mass on log-log plots of (A) Optimum swimming speed (U_opt) and (B) Gross cost of transport (GCOT) incurred by each species at their optimum swimming speed (U_opt). Dotted and solid lines denote mass-U_opt and mass-GCOT power functions [after 3, 6] for scombrid and non-scombrid fishes, respectively (note the range of temperatures encompassed within the underlying data in Table S1 [5], [8], [22]–[24], [26]–[32], which reflect the conditions experienced by each species performing in the wild). Note S. bandanensis is well above the scombrid U_opt trend (A, dotted line), but has the same (much lower) GCOT as similar-sized non-scombrid fishes swimming four times slower (B, solid line).