1. Flat-plate foil (with rounded leading and trailing edges) covered with skin from the lateral midline area of a male shortfin mako shark (left).
Flat-plate foil (with rounded leading and trailing edges) covered with skin from the lateral midline area of a male shortfin mako shark (left). Dark skin color indicates skin from the lateral shark surface, whereas a whitish color indicates more ventral skin. The foil is 7.22 cm in chord length (width) and 19 cm in height (whereof 17.5 cm is covered with shark skin). Distribution of the skin structure on the surface of the mako flat-plate foil (right). Environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) images from parts of a top (A), a top middle (B), a middle (C), a middle bottom (D) and a bottom (E) area. Images were taken from skin pieces extracted 0.5 cm downstream of the right foil edge at each location. Scale bars, 200 μm. The leading edge of the denticles is on the left, and the natural water flow pattern would thus be left to right in this figure.
Johannes Oeffner, and George V. Lauder J Exp Biol 2012;215:
© 2012.