the motion of undulating or rotating elastic `tails’ in a fluid environment is a common element in many biological and engineered systems. at the microscale, we will consider models of the journey of extremely long and flexible insect flagella through narrow and tortuous female reproductive tracts, and the penetration of mucosal tissue by helical flagella of bacteria. at the macroscale, we will probe the neuromechanics and fluid dynamics of the lamprey, the most primitive vertebrate and, hence, a model organism. using a closed-loop model that couples neural signaling, muscle mechanics, fluid dynamics and sensory feedback, we examine the hypothesis that amplified proprioceptive feedback could restore effective locomotion in lampreys with spinal injuries.