Cuttlefish use visual cues to control three-dimensional skin papillae for camouflage |
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Authors: | Justine J Allen Lydia M Mäthger Alexandra Barbosa Roger T Hanlon |
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Institution: | (1) Marine Biological Laboratory, Marine Resources Center, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA;(2) Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto, Porto, Portugal |
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Abstract: | Cephalopods (octopus, squid and cuttlefish) are known for their camouflage. Cuttlefish Sepia officinalis use chromatophores and light reflectors for color change, and papillae to change three-dimensional physical skin texture.
Papillae vary in size, shape and coloration; nine distinct sets of papillae are described here. The objective was to determine
whether cuttlefish use visual or tactile cues to control papillae expression. Cuttlefish were placed on natural substrates
to evoke the three major camouflage body patterns: Uniform/Stipple, Mottle and Disruptive. Three versions of each substrate
were presented: the actual substrate, the actual substrate covered with glass (removes tactile information) and a laminated
photograph of the substrate (removes tactile and three-dimensional information because depth-of-field information is unavailable).
No differences in Small dorsal papillae or Major lateral mantle papillae expression were observed among the three versions
of each substrate. Thus, visual (not tactile) cues drive the expression of papillae in S. officinalis. Two sets of papillae (Major lateral mantle papillae and Major lateral eye papillae) showed irregular responses; their control
requires future investigation. Finally, more Small dorsal papillae were shown in Uniform/Stipple and Mottle patterns than
in Disruptive patterns, which may provide clues regarding the visual mechanisms of background matching versus disruptive coloration. |
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Keywords: | Cephalopod behavior Sepia officinalis Visual perception Texture Dynamic camouflage |
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