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Dynamic visual noise has limited influence on the habitat selection and behavioural activity of crustaceans and cephalopods

Drerup, Christian ; How, Martin J. and Herbert-Read, James E. LU orcid (2024) In Ethology 130(3).
Abstract

Environments contain various forms of noise that can interfere with the ability of animal sensory systems to perceive information. One ubiquitous type of visual noise in shallow aquatic habitats is caustic flicker (or caustics), consisting of dynamically moving light patterns caused by the refraction of light when passing through the water's rippling surface. While some teleost fish avoid environments with caustic noise (where their prey can be more difficult to detect), it remains untested whether caustics affect the habitat selection of invertebrates. In the present study, we ask whether three invertebrate species, the shore crab Carcinus maenas, the brown shrimp Crangon crangon, and the common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis, prefer or... (More)

Environments contain various forms of noise that can interfere with the ability of animal sensory systems to perceive information. One ubiquitous type of visual noise in shallow aquatic habitats is caustic flicker (or caustics), consisting of dynamically moving light patterns caused by the refraction of light when passing through the water's rippling surface. While some teleost fish avoid environments with caustic noise (where their prey can be more difficult to detect), it remains untested whether caustics affect the habitat selection of invertebrates. In the present study, we ask whether three invertebrate species, the shore crab Carcinus maenas, the brown shrimp Crangon crangon, and the common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis, prefer or avoid associating with environments with caustic noise, and whether caustics affect their behavioural activity and habitat exploration. To do this, we exposed the three species in binary choice experiments to different simulated caustic noise levels varying in their temporal (speed) and spatial (definition) components. Neither of the three tested invertebrate species spent more or less time in environments with higher caustic noise levels. While we also found no evidence that caustics affected the behavioural activity and exploration of Ca. maenas and S. officinalis, the brown shrimp Cr. crangon reduced its activity with increasing spatial caustic noise. However, all obtained effect sizes in this study were small, suggesting that caustic noise only minimally affects invertebrate behaviour. Overall, our results show that, unlike in teleost fish, caustics have limited influence on the habitat selection, exploration, and activity of crustaceans and cephalopods.

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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
keywords
Carcinus maenas, Crangon crangon, habitat choice, polarisation vision, sensory ecology, Sepia officinalis
in
Ethology
volume
130
issue
3
article number
e13432
pages
14 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:85181924013
ISSN
0179-1613
DOI
10.1111/eth.13432
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5b625b9c-4fb9-48a9-a3b1-44265684b9f9
date added to LUP
2024-02-07 13:05:01
date last changed
2024-02-07 14:51:09
@article{5b625b9c-4fb9-48a9-a3b1-44265684b9f9,
  abstract     = {{<p>Environments contain various forms of noise that can interfere with the ability of animal sensory systems to perceive information. One ubiquitous type of visual noise in shallow aquatic habitats is caustic flicker (or caustics), consisting of dynamically moving light patterns caused by the refraction of light when passing through the water's rippling surface. While some teleost fish avoid environments with caustic noise (where their prey can be more difficult to detect), it remains untested whether caustics affect the habitat selection of invertebrates. In the present study, we ask whether three invertebrate species, the shore crab Carcinus maenas, the brown shrimp Crangon crangon, and the common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis, prefer or avoid associating with environments with caustic noise, and whether caustics affect their behavioural activity and habitat exploration. To do this, we exposed the three species in binary choice experiments to different simulated caustic noise levels varying in their temporal (speed) and spatial (definition) components. Neither of the three tested invertebrate species spent more or less time in environments with higher caustic noise levels. While we also found no evidence that caustics affected the behavioural activity and exploration of Ca. maenas and S. officinalis, the brown shrimp Cr. crangon reduced its activity with increasing spatial caustic noise. However, all obtained effect sizes in this study were small, suggesting that caustic noise only minimally affects invertebrate behaviour. Overall, our results show that, unlike in teleost fish, caustics have limited influence on the habitat selection, exploration, and activity of crustaceans and cephalopods.</p>}},
  author       = {{Drerup, Christian and How, Martin J. and Herbert-Read, James E.}},
  issn         = {{0179-1613}},
  keywords     = {{Carcinus maenas; Crangon crangon; habitat choice; polarisation vision; sensory ecology; Sepia officinalis}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Ethology}},
  title        = {{Dynamic visual noise has limited influence on the habitat selection and behavioural activity of crustaceans and cephalopods}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eth.13432}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/eth.13432}},
  volume       = {{130}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}