How to Be Unseen: An Essay in Obscurity

Saidel, William M.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-3714-3_20

Cited by 18 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…In spite of this sophisticated sensory system, vision alone may not be sufficient for predator detection among fish in all situations. Other sensory modalities are favored at night (Cerri, 1983), in cloudy water or when a predator is cryptic (Saidel, 1988). Vision is also a relatively slow sensory system.…”

Section: The Role Of the Lateral Line System In Predator Evasionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zebrafish larvae evade predators by sensing water flow

Stewart

Cardenas

McHenry

2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

169

168

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SUMMARYThe ability of fish to evade predators is central to the ecology and evolution of a diversity of species. However, it is largely unclear how prey fish detect predators in order to initiate their escape. We tested whether larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) sense the flow created by adult predators of the same species. When placed together in a cylindrical arena, we found that larvae were able to escape 70% of predator strikes (mean escape probability P escape =0.7, N=13). However, when we pharmacologically ablated the flow-sensitive lateral line system, larvae were rarely capable of escape (mean P escape =0.05, N=11). In order to explore the rapid events that facilitate a successful escape, we recorded freely swimming predators and prey using a custom-built camera dolly. This device permitted two-dimensional camera motion to manually track prey and record their escape response with high temporal and spatial resolution. These recordings demonstrated that prey were more than 3 times more likely to evade a suctionfeeding predator if they responded before (P escape =0.53, N=43), rather than after (P escape =0.15, N=13), a predatorʼs mouth opened, which is a highly significant difference. Therefore, flow sensing plays an essential role in predator evasion by facilitating a response prior to a predatorʼs strike.

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Section: The Role Of the Lateral Line System In Predator Evasionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zebrafish larvae evade predators by sensing water flow

Stewart

Cardenas

McHenry

2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

169

168

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“…We encourage the reader to view images of these animals via the internet. Saidel (1988) found that two North American species, the southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma) and the winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus), control the level of expression of a single pattern in response to varying backgrounds. Both species control the contrast in a pattern of dark and light, somewhat blurred, spots roughly 10mm across.…”

Section: Flatfish Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both species control the contrast in a pattern of dark and light, somewhat blurred, spots roughly 10mm across. In Paralichthys both the mean reflectance and the contrast of the background influence the coloration, and the maximum contrast across the body ranged from 14% to 70% (Saidel 1988). Another North Atlantic species, the plaice (Pleuronectes platessa; Figure 1A; Kelman et al 2006), has an advantage over the summer and winter flounders in that it can add two patterns to a fairly uniform 'ground' pattern.…”

Section: Flatfish Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Camouflage and Perceptual Organization in the Animal Kingdom

Osorio

Cuthill²

2014

Oxford Handbooks Online

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General rightsThis document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/pure/about/ebr-terms AbstractCamouflage allows the bearer to 'hide in plain sight' by means of colour patterns that interfere with detection. Basic principles of camouflage that were proposed over a century ago by artists and natural historians have informed recent studies that seek to tease apart the different mechanisms by which camouflage exploits perception. The probability of detection is lowered by matching background colours and textures or using sharply contrasting colours to disrupt the body's outline or salient features such as eyes. The effectiveness of much animal camouflage against humans, even though the patterns evolved to fool different viewers, suggests that diverse visual systems share similar principles of perceptual organization. As such, animal camouflage might reveal universal principles that apply regardless of retinal organisation and neural architecture. We review the recent literature on animal camouflage in this light, from experimental studies of texture perception by fish and cephalopod molluscs, to the visual effects used to defeat figure ground segregation of 2-D and 3-D objects in birds and mammals.

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“…white structural reflectors (Lanzing, 1977); see Fig.·1A]. In a study of how visual backgrounds affect coloration in two species of flatfish, southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma) and winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus), Saidel (Saidel, 1988) concluded that both the mean reflectance and the contrast of the background have an influence. Maximal contrast in pattern of Paralichthys ranged from 14% to 70%, according to the background.…”

Section: Natural Textures and Camouflage Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The plaice's system for producing body patterns can be compared with those of the other flatfish (Pleuronecticformes), namely southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma), winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) (Saidel, 1988) and the eyed flounder Bothus ocellatus (Ramachandran et al, 1996). Paralicthys and Pseudopleuronectes have (at least) one such pattern, Pleuronectes two, and Bothus three.…”

Section: Comparison With Other Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Juvenile plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) produce camouflage by flexibly combining two separate patterns

Kelman

Tiptus

Osorio

2006

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) is a flatfish well-known for the ability to vary its body pattern, probably for camouflage. This study investigates the repertoire of patterns used by juvenile plaice, by describing how they respond to shifts between three artificial backgrounds. Two basic patterns are under active control, fine `spots' and coarser `blotches'. These patterns are superimposed on a fairly uniform ground. For the six plaice studied, the levels of expression of the spot and blotch patterns varied continuously and independently according to the visual background, and in a manner consistent with their being cryptic. The repertoire of plaice appears to be intermediate between the tropical flatfish Bothus ocellatus,which has three separate basic patterns, and two temperate species Paralichthys lethostigma and Pseudopleuronectes americanus,which have one each. It is interesting to consider how mixing a small number of coloration patterns is effective for camouflage, and why the demands of this task may lead to differences between species.

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How to Be Unseen: An Essay in Obscurity

Cited by 18 publications

References 68 publications

Zebrafish larvae evade predators by sensing water flow

Zebrafish larvae evade predators by sensing water flow

Camouflage and Perceptual Organization in the Animal Kingdom

Juvenile plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) produce camouflage by flexibly combining two separate patterns

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