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Tuning gastropod locomotion: Modeling the influence of mucus rheology on the cost of crawling

Eric Lauga·A. E. Hosoi
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Abstract

Common gastropods such as snails crawl on a solid substrate by propagating muscular waves of shear stress on a viscoelastic mucus. Producing the mucus accounts for the largest component in the gastropod's energy budget, more than twenty times the amount of mechanical work used in crawling. Using a simple mechanical model, we show that the shear-thinning properties of the mucus favor a decrease in the amount of mucus necessary for crawling, thereby decreasing the overall energetic cost of locomotion.

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Eric Lauga, A. E. Hosoi. 2006-08-17. Tuning gastropod locomotion: Modeling the influence of mucus rheology on the cost of crawling. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2382591

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