Eyespots as Visual Cues in the Intraspecific Behavior of the Cichlid Fish Astronotus ocellatus

Beeching, Simon C.

doi:10.2307/1447100

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…The horizontal alteration in ocellus position may serve a different function than predation risk. Similar to conspicuous color patterns in general (Lorenz, 1962;Zumpe, 1965), ocelli may serve species recognition, but evidence has been lacking so far (Neudecker, 1989;Beeching, 1993). Variation in ocellus position among singleocellus-bearing, co-occurring species may allow retention of antipredator function but at the same time assist also in species recognition, hence facilitating social communication and reducing the risk of hybridization.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…They may reduce predation risk by, for instance, deterring visually hunting predators (Hasson, 1991) or deflecting their attacks to less vital parts of the body (Neudecker, 1989;Winemiller, 1990). Alternatively, they may enhance social communication and species recognition (Kohda and Watanabe, 1990;Beeching, 1993) or they may serve several functions simultaneously (Meadows, 1993). Most of the current knowledge of the variation and function of ocelli in fishes comes from groups that live in shallow marine or freshwater habitats, such as chaetodontids (Neudecker, 1989;Meadows, 1993) and cichlids (Winemiller, 1990;Beeching, 1993).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alternatively, they may enhance social communication and species recognition (Kohda and Watanabe, 1990;Beeching, 1993) or they may serve several functions simultaneously (Meadows, 1993). Most of the current knowledge of the variation and function of ocelli in fishes comes from groups that live in shallow marine or freshwater habitats, such as chaetodontids (Neudecker, 1989;Meadows, 1993) and cichlids (Winemiller, 1990;Beeching, 1993). species and examine the ocellus-bearing species for size, position, and number of ocelli.…”

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Ocellus variation and possible functions in the genus Neobythites (Teleostei: Ophidiidae)

Uiblein

Nielsen

2005

Ichthyol Res

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Based on the examination of almost 1200 specimens representing 50 species of the secondary deep-sea fish genus Neobythites (family Ophidiidae), this study provides an overview of body coloration and a detailed comparison among species that have typical ocelli or eyespots consisting of a dark spot surrounded by a contrasting pale ring on their dorsal fins. Special interest concerns the possible functions of ocelli as antipredator and social signaling devices and the hypothesis that species differences in ocellus size and position are more pronounced in areas of overlap. Color patterns were found in 78% and ocelli in 44% of the Neobythites species. The 22 ocellus-bearing species occur at shallower depths than those without. Ocellus number varied between one and four ocelli with singleocellus-bearing species reaching shallower minimum depths than those with multiples. Variation in both ocellus size and position was found among co-occurring species with a single ocellus. For instance, the Northern Indian Ocean population of N. stefanovi differs in ocellus position from the co-occurring N. steatiticus, while the allopatric Red Sea population of N. stefanovi does not. This evidence of character displacement is also supported by the marked difference in ocellus position and size between two specimens of N. meteori that were collected widely separated from each other and co-occurring with two other single-ocellus-bearing species in the Pacific and Indian Ocean, respectively. Ocelli in Neobythites may therefore serve antipredator as well as social communication functions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Ocellus variation and possible functions in the genus Neobythites (Teleostei: Ophidiidae)

Uiblein

Nielsen

2005

Ichthyol Res

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“…This continues until the opponent retreats or the initiator has performed all the phases of the ritual threat sequence and passes to the attack phase; this suggests a progressive escalation from low to high intensity movements, differing from the reports of Glass & Huntingford (1988). These movements seem to have evolved in function of communication and pre-announce that the individual is prepared to attack (Huxley, 1923), so the highly evident mark on the dactyl of pereiopod V functions as a visual cue (Wickler, 1960) and signi es aggressive mimicry, like many patterns and marks in several other species of animals (Barlow, 1972;Caldwell & Dingle, 1976;Dale & Pappantoniou, 1986;Neudecker, 1989;Winemiller, 1990;Beeching, 1993;Dawkins & Guilford, 1993;Meadows, 1993;Mallet & Le Gilbert, 1995;Turner & Mallet, 1996;Brosset, 1997). It is, therefore, likely that the marks these crabs display have evolved as visual cues for communication purposes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We know that eye-spots are among the most stable colour pattern signals (Moynihan, 1984) and they have been described in many different animals as threatening cues: insects, cephalopods, frogs, pheasants, shes, etc., etc. (e.g., Cott, 1957;Wickler, 1968;Davison, 1983;Moynihan, 1984;Dale & Pappantoniou, 1986;Neudecker, 1989;Winemiller, 1990;Beeching, 1993;Meadows, 1993).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functions of the Eyespot Marking on the Swimming Leg of Liocarcinus Depurator (Linnaeus, 1758) (Decapoda, Brachyura, Portunidae)

Bedini¹,

Canali²,

Bedini³

2002

Crustac

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The defence mechanisms and basic display patterns of Liocarcinus depurator have been studied in an attempt to understand the meaning of the spots on the dactylus of pereiopod V and to verify whether a hierarchical pattern related to food-access exists. We performed two series of tests to investigate (1) social hierarchy in food-access; (2) the signi cance of the spots.In the rst test we observed rather complex stereotype behavioural patterns, apparently associated with display of the dactylus spot. No hierarchical pattern based on the sex or size of the individuals tested was observed.In the second series of tests we investigated the role of eye spots in Liocarcinus depurator in establishing a food-access hierarchy during intraspeci c interactions. We repeated the previous tests after obliterating the eye spots in one of the two Liocarcinus depurator contestants. Results suggest that the eye spots in Liocarcinus depurator do play an important role as threatening, visual cues. RIASSUNTOSi sono studiati i meccanismi di difesa ed i moduli fondamentali di esibizione in Liocarcinus depurator, allo scopo di comprendere il signi cato delle macchie sul dattilo del V pereiopode e di veri care l'esistenza di un modello gerarchico collegato al comportamento di accesso al cibo. Sono state condotte due serie di test, per indagare (1) gerarchia sociale nell'accesso al cibo; (2) il signi cato delle macchie.Nella prima serie di test è stato possibile osservare modelli di comportamento stereotipati alquanto complessi, in apparenza connessi con l'esibizione della macchia del dattilo del V pereiopode. Non si è osservato alcuno schema di gerarchia correlata al sesso o alla taglia degli esemplari osservati nel test.Nella seconda serie di esperimenti si è voluto indagare il ruolo delle macchie oculari in Liocarcinus depurator nell'eventuale instaurarsi di una gerarchia per l'accesso al cibo nelle relazioni intraspeci che. I test precedenti sono stati ripetuti dopo aver dissimulato le macchie in uno dei due granchi contendenti. I risultati indicano che le macchie oculari in Liocarcinus depurator giocano un ruolo importante come segnali visivi di minaccia. 3 /

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Eye as a key element of conspecific image eliciting lateralized response in fish

2012

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Visual lateralization in different aspects of social behaviour has been found for numerous species of vertebrates ranging from fish to mammals. For inspection of a shoal mate, many fishes show a left eye-right hemisphere preference. Here, we tested the hypothesis that in fish, there is a key cue in the conspecific appearance, which elicits lateralized response to the whole image of the conspecific. In a series of eight experiments, we explored eye preferences in cryptic-coloured Amur sleeper, Perccottus glenii, fry. Fish displayed left-eye preferences at the population level for inspection of a group of conspecifics, their own mirror image, and a motionless flat model of a conspecific. In contrast, no population bias was found for scrutinizing an empty environment or a moving cylinder. When fry were showed a model of a conspecific in a lateral view with the eye displaced from the head to the tail, they again showed a significant preference for left-eye use. On the other hand, 'eyeless' conspecific model elicited no lateralized viewing in fry. Finally, the left-eye preference was revealed for scrutiny of the image of a conspecific eye alone. We argue that in Amur sleeper fry, eye is the element of the conspecific image, which can serve as a 'key' for the initiation of lateralized social response. This key element may serve as a trigger for the rapid recognition of conspecifics in the left eye-right hemisphere system. Possible causes and advantages of lateralized perception of social stimuli and their key elements are discussed in the context of current theories of brain lateralization.

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Eyespots as Visual Cues in the Intraspecific Behavior of the Cichlid Fish Astronotus ocellatus

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Ocellus variation and possible functions in the genus Neobythites (Teleostei: Ophidiidae)

Ocellus variation and possible functions in the genus Neobythites (Teleostei: Ophidiidae)

Functions of the Eyespot Marking on the Swimming Leg of Liocarcinus Depurator (Linnaeus, 1758) (Decapoda, Brachyura, Portunidae)

Eye as a key element of conspecific image eliciting lateralized response in fish

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