Metachronal waves in concentrations of swimming Turbatrix aceti nematodes and an oscillator chain model for their coordinated motions

Abstract

At high concentration, free swimming nematodes known as vinegar eels ({\it Turbatrix aceti}), collectively exhibit metachronal waves near a boundary. We find that the frequency of the collective traveling wave is lower than that of the freely swimming organisms. We explore models based on a chain of oscillators with nearest neighbor interactions that inhibit oscillator phase velocity. The phase of each oscillator represents the phase of the motion of the eel's head back and forth about its mean position. A strongly interacting directed chain model mimicking steric repulsion between organisms robustly gives traveling wave states and can approximately match the observed wavelength and oscillation frequency of the observed traveling wave. We predict body shapes assuming that waves propagate down the eel body at a constant speed. The phase oscillator model that impedes eel head overlaps also reduces close interactions throughout the eel bodies.

arXiv commentMovies https://youtu.be/jETmIRah-mo and https://youtu.be/_HzUbkXZRKw

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• Attractive and repulsive interactions in the one-dimensional swarmalator model
• Swarmalators on a ring with uncorrelated pinning
• Fluid circulation driven by collectively organized metachronal waves in swimming T. aceiti nematodes
• Order, chaos, and dimensionality transition in a system of swarmalators
• Collective synchronization of undulatory movement through contact
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• Robust formation of metachronal waves in directional chains of phase oscillators