Abstract
Mirror self-recognition has been examined primarily in vertebrate species, largely through the use of a mirror mark test. Recently, however, there has been growing interest in the notion that all animals likely need some form of self-representation to successfully interact with their environment (Kohda et al. in Plos Biol https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001529, 2022; de Waal in Plos Biol https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000112, 2019). Our knowledge of this trait in invertebrate species is particularly limited, while there are several species potentially well suited for mirror mark tests. To better understand this trait and its distribution, the current research examines mirror self-recognition in ghost crab (Ocypode quadrata) using a visual mirror mark test. In an initial phase, animals were exposed to a flat oriented mirror for an extended period. In a subsequent testing phase, subjects were either (1) marked (green sticker) or sham marked (clear sticker) and exposed to a mirror, (2) marked and placed in a tank without a mirror, or (3) marked and shown video of a marked conspecific. Results showed that marked, relative to sham marked, animals were significantly more likely to remove marks when exposed to mirrors. Findings also suggests this behavior was not driven by the perception of mirror images as conspecifics, or issues related to mark placement. These data are interpreted in support of a rudimentary form of self-awareness in this species. Discussions highlight potential cognitive mechanisms that facilitate this type of self-representation and the need for additional research that informs about more sophisticated forms of self-awareness.
Similar content being viewed by others
Availability of data and materials
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Anderson JR, Gallup GG (2015) Mirror self-recognition: a review and critique of attempts to promote and engineer self-recognition in primates. Primates 56(4):317–326. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-015-0488-9
Azevedo F, Carvalho L, Grinberg L, Farfel J, Ferretti R, Leite R, Filho W, Lent R, Herculano-Houzel S (2009) Equal numbers of neuronal and nonneuronal cells make the human brain an isometrically scaled-up primate brain. J Comp Neurol 513(5):532–541. https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.21974
Branco J, Hillesheim J, Fracasso H, Christoffersen M, Evangelista C (2010) Bioecology of the ghost crab Ocypode quadrata (Fabricius, 1787) (Crustacea: Brachyuran) compared with other intertidal crabs in the southwestern atlantic. J Shellfish Res 29(2):503–512. https://doi.org/10.2983/035.029.0229
Buniyaadi A, Taufique SKT, Kumar V (2020) Self-recognition in corvids: evidence from the mirror mark test in Indian house crows (Corvus splendens). J Ornithol 16(2020):341–350. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-019-01730-2
Cammaerts M, Cammaerts R (2015) Are ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) capable of self recognition? J Sci 5(7):523–532
Chang L, Fang Q, Zhang S, Poo MM, Gong N (2015) Mirror- induced self-directed behaviors in rhesus monkeys after visual-somatosensory training. Curr Biol 25(2):212–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.11.016
Chang L, Zhang S, Poo M, Gong N (2017) Spontaneous expression of mirror self-recognition in monkeys after learning precise visual-proprioceptive association for mirror images. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 114(12):3258–3263. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1620764114
Chittka L, Niven J (2009) Are bigger brains better? Curr Biol 19(21):R995–R1008. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2009.08.023
Clayton D (2001) Acoustic calling in four species of ghost crabs: Ocypode jousseaumei, O. platytarsus, O. rotundata and O. saratan (brachyura: ocypodidae). Bioacoustics 12:37–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/09524622.2001.9753477
Clayton D (2008) Singing and dancing in the ghost crab ocypode platytarsus (Crustacea, Decapoda, Ocypodidae). J Nat Hist 42:141–155. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222930701840530
Costa L, Madureira J, Di Beneditto A, Zalmon I (2019) Interaction of the atlantic ghost crab with marine debris: evidence from an in suite experimental approach. Mar Pollut Bull 143:603–609. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.02.016
Davies R, Gagen M, Bull J, Pope E (2019) Maze learning and memory in a decapod crustacean. Biol Lett. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0407
De Veer M, Van Den Bos R (1999) A critical review of methodology and interpretation of mirror self-recognition research in non-human animals. Anim Behav 58:459–468. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1999.1166
de Waal F (2019) Fish, mirrors, and a gradualist perspective on self-awareness. PLoS Biol. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000112
Focquaert F, Braeckman J, Platek S (2008) An evolutionary cognitive neuroscience perspective on human self-awareness and theory of mind. Philos Psychol 21(1):47–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515080701875156
Gallagher HL, Frith CD (2003) Functional imaging of ‘theory of mind.’ Trends Cognit Sci 7(2):77–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(02)00025-6
Gallup G (1970) Chimpanzees: self-recognition. Science 167(3914):86–87. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.167.3914.86
Gallup GG, Anderson JR (2020) Self-recognition in animals: where do we stand 50 years later? Lessons from cleaner wrasse and other species. Psychol Conscious Theory Res Pract 7(1):46–58. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000206
Hauser M, Kralik J, Botto-Mahan C, Garrett M, Oser J (1995) Self-recognition in primates: phylogeny and the salience of species-typical features. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 92(23):10811–10814. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.92.23.10811
Heschl A, Burkart J (2006) A new mark test for self-recognition in non-human primates. Primates 47:187–198. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-005-0170-8
Horch K, Salmon M (1972) Responses of ghost crab, ocypode, to acoustic stimuli. Z Tierpsychol 30(1):1–13
Hoyle G (1976) Learning of leg position by the ghost crab ocypode ceratopthalma. Behav Biol 18(2):147–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0091-6773(76)92038-1
Ikeda Y, Matsumoto G (2007) Mirror image reactions in the oval squid Sepioteuthis lessoniana. Fish Sci 73:1401–1403. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1444-2906.2007.01485.x
Kohda M, Hotta T, Takeyama T, Awata S, Tanaka H, Asai J, Jordan A (2019) If a fish can pass the mark test, what are the implications for consciousness and self-awareness testing in animals? PLoS Biol. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000021
Kohda M, Sogawa S, Jordan A, Kubo N, Awata S, Satoh S, Kobayashi T, Fujita A, Bshary R (2022) Further evidence for the capacity of mirror self-recognition in cleaner fish and the significance of ecologically relevant marks. PLoS Biol. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001529
Kraft F, Forstova T, Urhan A, Exnerova A, Brodin A (2017) No evidence for self-recognition in a small passerine, the great tit (Parus major) judged from the mark/mirror test. Anim Cognit 20:1049–1057. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-017-1121-7
Krupenye C, Call J (2019) Theory of mind in animals: current and future directions. Wiley Interdiscip Rev 10(6):e1503
Loth A, Gunturkun O, Von Ferson L, Janik V (2022) Through the looking glass: how do marked dolphins use mirrors and what does it mean? Anim Cognit 25:1151–1160. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-022-01680-y
Marten K, Psarakos S (1992) Using self-view television to distinguish between self-examination and social behavior in the bottle nose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Conscious Cognit 4:205–224. https://doi.org/10.1006/ccog.1995.1026
Morin A (2006) Levels of consciousness and self-awareness: a comparison and integration of various neurocognitive views. Conscious Cognit 15(2):358–371. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2005.09.006
Morin A (2011) Self-recognition, theory of mind, and self-awareness: what side are you on? Laterality 16(3):367–383. https://doi.org/10.1080/13576501003702648
Olkowicz S, Kocourek M, Lucan R, Nemec P (2016) Birds have primate-like numbers of neurons on the forebrain. Proc Natl Acad Sci 113(26):7255–7260. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1517131113
Popper A, Salmon M, Horch K (2001) Acoustic detection and communication by decapod crustaceans. J Comp Physiol 187:83–89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s003590100184
Povinelli DJ, Rulf AB, Landau KR, Bierschwale D (1993) Self-recognition in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): distribution, ontogeny, and patterns of emergence. J Comp Psychol 107(4):347–372. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7036.107.4.347
Prior H, Schwarz A, Gunturkun O (2008) Mirror induced behavior in the magpie (pica pica): evidence of self-recognition. PLoS Biol. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0060202
Reiss D, Marino L (2001) Mirror self-recognition in the bottle nose dolphin: a case of cognitive convergence. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98(10):5937–5942. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.101086398
Soler M, Perez-Contreras T, Peralta-Sanchez J (2014) Mirror-mark tests performed on jackdaws reveal potential methodological problems in the use of stickers in avian mark-test studies. PLoS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086193
Taylor JR, DeVries MS, Elias DO (2019) Growling from the gut: co-option of the gastric mill for acoustic communication in ghost crab. Proc R Soc B. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1161
Tibbetts E, Agudelo J, Pandit S, Riojas J (2019) Transitive inference in paper wasps. Anim Behav. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0015
Yong AY, Lim SS (2021) Plasticity of foraging strategies adopted by the painted ghost crab, Ocypode gaudichaudii, in response to in situ food resource manipulation experiments. Zool Stud. https://doi.org/10.6620/ZS.2021.60-37
Zeil J (1998) Homing in fiddler crabs (ca lactea annulipes and Uca vomeris : Ocypodidae). J Comp Physiol A 183:367–377. https://doi.org/10.1007/s003590050263
Funding
No funding was received for conducting this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
This declaration is not applicable for this study.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interest to disclose.
Ethical approval
Animal subjects collected for the purposes of writing this manuscript were an unregulated invertebrate species. Thus, approval from a regulatory body for animal research (i.e., IACUC) was not required to accomplish the goals of this study.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Robinson, T. Mirror self-recognition in ghost crab (Ocypode quadrata). Anim Cogn 26, 1539–1549 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-023-01800-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-023-01800-2