Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Behavioural evidence for colour vision in stomatopod crustaceans

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Comparative Physiology A Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

If an organism can be taught to respond in a particular way to a wavelength of light, irrespective of that light's intensity, then it must be able to perceive the colour of the stimulus. No marine invertebrate has yet been shown to have colour vision. Stomatopod crustaceans (mantis shrimps) are colourful animals and their eyes have many adaptations which indicate that they are capable of such spectral analysis. We adopted an associative learning paradigm to attempt to demonstrate colour vision. Stomatopods readily learnt to choose some colours from arrays of greys, even when the correct choice colours were darker than the ones they had been trained to. Possible mechanisms underlying colour vision in these animals, and their ecological significance are discussed. A simple model is presented which may help interpret the complex-stomatopod colour vision system and explain some of the learning anomalies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
€32.70 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Finland)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

ND :

neutral density

OD :

optical density

R8 :

Retinular cell 8

R1–7 :

Retinular cells 1–7

R1D :

Distally placed R1–7 retinular cells in mid-band row 1

e.g. R1P :

Proximally placed R1–7 retinular cells in mid-band row 1

D/P :

Estimate of chromatic signal ratio

References

  • Burkhardt D (1983) Wavelength perception and colour vision. In: Cosens DJ, Vince-Price D (eds) The biology of photoreception. Cambridge University Press, pp 371–397

  • Burrows M (1969) The mechanics and neural control of the prey capture strike in the mantid shrimps Squilla and Hemisquilla. Z Vergl Physiol 62: 361–381

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell RL (1982) Interspecific chemically mediated recognition in two competing stomatopods. Mar Behav Physiol 8: 189–197

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell RL, Dingle H (1976) Stomatopods. Sci Am 234: 80–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronin TW, Forward RB (1988) The visual pigments of crabs. I. Spectral characteristics. J Comp Physiol A 162: 463–478

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronin TW, Marshall NJ (1989a) Multiple spectral classes of photo-receptors in the retinas of gonodactyloid stomatopod crustaceans. J Comp Physiol A 166: 261–275

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronin TW, Marshall NJ (1989b) A retina with at least ten spectral types of photoreceptors in a mantis shrimp. Nature 339: 137–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronin TW, Marshall NJ, Land MF (1994a) The unique visual system of the mantis shrimp. Am Sci 82: 356–365

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronin TW, Marshall NJ, Caldwell RL (1994b) The intrarhabdomal niters in the retinas of mantis shrimps. Vision Res 34: 279–291

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronin TW, Marshall NJ, Caldwell RL (1994c) The retinas of mantis shrimps from low light environments (Crustacea; Stomatopoda; Gonodactylidae). J Comp Physiol A 174: 607–619

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronin TW, Marshall NJ, Caldwell RL, Shashar N (1994d) Specialisation of retinal function in the compound eyes of mantis shrimps. Vision Res 34: 2639–2656

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronin TW, Marshall NJ, Quinn CA, King CA (1994e) Ultraviolet photoreception in mantis shrimp. Vision Res 34: 1443–1452

    Google Scholar 

  • Cutler DE, Bennett RR, Stevenson RD, White RH (1995) Feeding behaviour in the nocturnal moth Manduca sexta is mediated mainly by blue receptors, but where are they located in the retina? J Exp Biol 198: 1909–1917

    Google Scholar 

  • Frisch K von, Kuppelwieser EM (1913) Über den Einfluß der Lichtfarbe auf die phototaktische Reaktion niederer Krebse. Biol Zentralbl 33: 517–522

    Google Scholar 

  • Fukushi T (1990) Colour discrimination from various shades of grey in the trained blowfly, Lucilia cuprina. J Insect Physiol 36: 69–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldsmith TH (1990) Optimisation, constraint, and history in the evolution of eyes. Q Rev Biol 65: 281–322

    Google Scholar 

  • Hazlett BA (1979) The meral spot of Gonodactylus oerstedii Hansen as a visual stimulus (Stomatopoda, Gonodactylidae). Crustaceana 36: 196–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyatt GW (1974) Behavioural evidence for light intensity discrimination by the fiddler crab, Uca pugilator (Brachyura, Ocypodidae). Anim Behav 22: 796–801

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyatt GW (1975) Physiological and behavioural evidence for colour discrimination by fiddler crabs (Brachyura, Ocypodidae, genus Uca). In: Vernberg FJ (ed) Physiological ecology of estuarine organisms. Univ of South Carolina Press, Columbia, pp 333–365

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs GH (1981) Comparative colour vision. Academic Press, New York London Toronto Sydney San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Lall AB, Cronin TW (1987) Spectral sensitivity of the compound eyes in the purple land crab Gecarcinus lateralis (Freminville). Biol Bull 173: 398–406

    Google Scholar 

  • Leggett LMW (1979) A retinal substrate for colour discrimination in crabs. J Comp Physiol 133: 159–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Lunau K, Maier EJ (1995) Innate colour preferences of flower visitors. J Comp Physiol A 177: 1–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Manning RB, Schiff H, Abbott BC (1984) Eye structure and the classification of stomatopod Crustacea. Zool Scripta 13(1): 41–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall NJ (1988) A unique colour and polarisation vision system in mantis shrimps. Nature 333: 557–560

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall NJ, Land MF, King CA, Cronin TW (1991a) The compound eyes of mantis shrimps (Crustacea, Hoplocarida, Stomatopoda). I. Compound eye structure: the detection of polarised light. Phil Trans R Soc Lond B 334: 33–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall NJ, Land MF, King CA, Cronin TW (1991b) The compound eyes of mantis shrimps (Crustacea, Hoplocarida, Stomatopoda). II Colour pigments in the eyes of stomatopod crustaceans: polychromatic vision by serial and lateral filtering. Phil Trans R Soc Lond 334: 57–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Menzel R (1979) Spectral sensitivity and colour vision in invertebrates. In: Autrum H (ed) Handbook of Sensory Physiology, VII/6A. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 503–580

    Google Scholar 

  • MenzelR, Backhaus W (1991) Colour vision in insects. In: Cronly-Dillon JR, Gregory RL (eds) Evolution of the eye and visual system. Vision and visual dysfunction, vol 2. Macmillan, pp 262–293

  • Nässel DR (1976) The retina and retinal projection on the lamina ganglionaris of the crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana). J Comp Neurol 167: 341–360

    Google Scholar 

  • Neumeyer C (1991) Evolution of colour vision. In: Cronly-Dillon JR, Gregory RL (eds) Evolution of the eye and visual system. Vision and visual dysfunction, vol 2. Macmillan, pp 284–305

  • Sabra R, Glantz RM (1985) Polarisation sensitivity of crayfish photoreceptors is correlated with their termination sites in the lamina ganglionaris. J Comp Physiol A 156: 315–318

    Google Scholar 

  • Scherer C, Kolb G (1987a) Behavioural experiments on the visual processing of colour stimuli in Pieris brassicae L. (Lepidoptera). J Comp Physiol A 160: 645–656

    Google Scholar 

  • Scherer C, Kolb G (1987b) The influence of colour stimuli on visually controlled behaviour in Aglais urticae L. and Pararge aegeria L. (Lepidoptera). J Comp Physiol A 161: 891–898

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith FE, Baylor ER (1953) Colour responses in the Cladocera and their ecological significance. Am Nat 87: 49–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith KC, Macagno ER (1990) UV photoreceptors in the compound eye of Daphnia mayna (Crustacea, Branchiopoda). A fourth spectral class in single ommatidia. J Comp Physiol A 166: 597–606

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearns SC (1975) Light responses of Daphnia pulex. Limnol Oceanogr 20: 564–570

    Google Scholar 

  • Stowe S (1977) The retina-lamina projection in the crab Leptograpsus variegatus. Cell Tissue Res 185: 515–525

    Google Scholar 

  • Stowe S (1980) Spectral sensitivity and retinal pigment movement in the crab Leptoyrapsus variegatus (Fabricus). J Exp Biol 87: 73–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Strausfeld NJ, Nässel DR (1981) Neuroarchitecture of brain regions that subserve compound eyes of crustaceans and insects. In: Autrum H (ed) Handbook of sensory physiology, VII/6A. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 1–132

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson E, Palacios A, Varela FJ (1992) Ways of colouring: Comparative colour vision as a case study for cognitive science. Behav Brain Sci 15: 1–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Troje N (1993) Spectral categories in the learning behaviour of blowflies. Z Naturforsch 48c: 96–104

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sussex Centre for Neuroscience, University of Sussex, BN1 9QG, Brighton, Sussex, UK

    N. J. Marshall & J. P. Jones

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, UMBC Catonsville, 21228, Baltimore, MD, USA

    T. W. Cronin

Authors
  1. N. J. Marshall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. P. Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. T. W. Cronin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Marshall, N.J., Jones, J.P. & Cronin, T.W. Behavioural evidence for colour vision in stomatopod crustaceans. J Comp Physiol A 179, 473–481 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00192314

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00192314

Key words

Search

Navigation