Differences in signal contrast and camouflage among different colour variations of a stomatopod crustacean, Neogonodactylus oerstedii
(2020) In Scientific Reports 10.- Abstract
Animal colouration is often a trade-off between background matching for camouflage from predators, and conspicuousness for communication with con- or heterospecifics. Stomatopods are marine crustaceans known to use colour signals during courtship and contests, while their overall body colouration may provide camouflage. However, we have little understanding of how stomatopods perceive these signals in their environment or whether overall body coloration does provide camouflage from predators. Neogonodactylus oerstedii assess meral spot colour during contests, and meral spot colour varies depending on local habitat. By calculating quantum catch for N. oerstedii's 12 photoreceptors associated with chromatic vision, we found that variation... (More)
Animal colouration is often a trade-off between background matching for camouflage from predators, and conspicuousness for communication with con- or heterospecifics. Stomatopods are marine crustaceans known to use colour signals during courtship and contests, while their overall body colouration may provide camouflage. However, we have little understanding of how stomatopods perceive these signals in their environment or whether overall body coloration does provide camouflage from predators. Neogonodactylus oerstedii assess meral spot colour during contests, and meral spot colour varies depending on local habitat. By calculating quantum catch for N. oerstedii's 12 photoreceptors associated with chromatic vision, we found that variation in meral spot total reflectance does not function to increase signal contrast in the local habitat. Neogonodactylus oerstedii also show between-habitat variation in dorsal body colouration. We used visual models to predict a trichromatic fish predator's perception of these colour variations. Our results suggest that sandy and green stomatopods are camouflaged from a typical fish predator in rubble fields and seagrass beds, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate signal contrast and camouflage in a stomatopod. These results provide new insight into the function and evolution of colouration in a species with a complex visual system.
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- author
- Franklin, Amanda M ; Marshall, Justin ; Feinstein, Adina D ; Bok, Michael J LU ; Byrd, Anya D and Lewis, Sara M
- publishing date
- 2020-01-27
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- keywords
- Animals, Biological Mimicry/physiology, Color Perception/physiology, Crustacea, Decapoda/genetics, Evolution, Molecular, Eye/anatomy & histology, Genetic Variation, Photoreceptor Cells/physiology, Phylogeny, Pigmentation/physiology, Pigments, Biological/physiology
- in
- Scientific Reports
- volume
- 10
- article number
- 1236
- pages
- 14 pages
- publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:31988305
- scopus:85078341635
- ISSN
- 2045-2322
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41598-020-57990-z
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 04440f50-a4cf-4e2e-bb19-1bcc55718976
- date added to LUP
- 2020-10-09 10:00:47
- date last changed
- 2024-05-15 19:47:56
@article{04440f50-a4cf-4e2e-bb19-1bcc55718976,
abstract = {{<p>Animal colouration is often a trade-off between background matching for camouflage from predators, and conspicuousness for communication with con- or heterospecifics. Stomatopods are marine crustaceans known to use colour signals during courtship and contests, while their overall body colouration may provide camouflage. However, we have little understanding of how stomatopods perceive these signals in their environment or whether overall body coloration does provide camouflage from predators. Neogonodactylus oerstedii assess meral spot colour during contests, and meral spot colour varies depending on local habitat. By calculating quantum catch for N. oerstedii's 12 photoreceptors associated with chromatic vision, we found that variation in meral spot total reflectance does not function to increase signal contrast in the local habitat. Neogonodactylus oerstedii also show between-habitat variation in dorsal body colouration. We used visual models to predict a trichromatic fish predator's perception of these colour variations. Our results suggest that sandy and green stomatopods are camouflaged from a typical fish predator in rubble fields and seagrass beds, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate signal contrast and camouflage in a stomatopod. These results provide new insight into the function and evolution of colouration in a species with a complex visual system.</p>}},
author = {{Franklin, Amanda M and Marshall, Justin and Feinstein, Adina D and Bok, Michael J and Byrd, Anya D and Lewis, Sara M}},
issn = {{2045-2322}},
keywords = {{Animals; Biological Mimicry/physiology; Color Perception/physiology; Crustacea; Decapoda/genetics; Evolution, Molecular; Eye/anatomy & histology; Genetic Variation; Photoreceptor Cells/physiology; Phylogeny; Pigmentation/physiology; Pigments, Biological/physiology}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{01}},
publisher = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
series = {{Scientific Reports}},
title = {{Differences in signal contrast and camouflage among different colour variations of a stomatopod crustacean, Neogonodactylus oerstedii}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-57990-z}},
doi = {{10.1038/s41598-020-57990-z}},
volume = {{10}},
year = {{2020}},
}