Benthic fish exhibit more plastic crypsis than non-benthic species in a freshwater spring

Cox, Serena L.; Chandler, Sondra; Barron, C.A.; Work, Kirsten

doi:10.1007/s10164-008-0148-2

Cited by 13 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…1). A similar trend was found by Cox et al (2009) in which various 'nonbenthic' fish species of a freshwater spring exhibited reduced directional plasticity relative to the benthic species, which lives in a more spectrally heterogeneous environment. Environmental heterogeneity is assumed to select for adaptive plasticity (Buskirk, 2002;Doughty & Reznick, 2004;Schlichting, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Colour plasticity and background matching in a threespine stickleback species pair

Clarke

Schluter

2011

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Examining differences in colour plasticity between closely-related species in relation to the heterogeneity of background colours found in their respective habitats may offer important insight into how cryptic colour change evolves in natural populations. In the present study, we examined whether nonbreeding dorsal body coloration has diverged between sympatric species of stickleback along with changes in habitat-specific background colours. The small, limnetic species primarily occupies the pelagic zone and the large, benthic species inhabits the littoral zone. We placed benthic and limnetic sticklebacks against extremes of habitat background colours and measured their degree of background matching and colour plasticity. Benthics matched the littoral background colour more closely than did the limnetics, although there was no difference between species in their resemblance to the pelagic background colour. Benthics were able to resemble both background colours by exhibiting greater directional colour plasticity in their dorsal body coloration than limnetics, which may be an adaptive response to the greater spectral heterogeneity of the littoral zone. The present study highlights how habitat-specific spectral characteristics may shape cryptic coloration differences between stickleback species.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

“…1). A similar trend was found by Cox et al . (2009) in which various ‘nonbenthic’ fish species of a freshwater spring exhibited reduced directional plasticity relative to the benthic species, which lives in a more spectrally heterogeneous environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colour plasticity and background matching in a threespine stickleback species pair

Clarke

Schluter

2011

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…uniformity) coloration have lower detectability on greyscale sugar maple tree trunk backgrounds. This finding corroborates those of past studies that have demonstrated that animals achieve background matching through both darkness (Vignieri et al, 2010, Kats and Vandragt, 1986, Chang et al, 2012, Cox et al, 2009) and mottled coloration (Chiao et al, 2010). However, care should be taken in generalising these results to all moth species that camouflage themselves on trees, since the experimental paradigm of positioning moths randomly on trees doesn't allow for realistic moth behaviours such as orientation (Chapter 2), body posture (Barbosa et al, 2012) and micro-patch choice (Kang et al, 2012).…”

Section: Disruptive Colorationsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…Guppy, Poecilia reticulata L In the presence of predators, populations evolve more spots and they change their size and length Endler 1980Endler , 1982Endler , 1989 Cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis (Kats and Vandragt, 1986, Feltmate and Williams, 1989, Grayson et al, 1991, Hacker and Madin, 1991, Sandoval, 1994, Johannesson and Ekendahl, 2002, Garcia and Sih, 2003, Ahnesjo and Forsman, 2006, Wilson et al, 2007, Cox et al, 2009, Vignieri et al, 2010, Clarke and Schluter, 2011, Pellissier et al, 2011, Stoner et al, 2003, Barbosa et al, 2008, Chiao et al, 2010, Bush et al, 2010, Endler, 1980, Endler, 1982, Zylinski et al, 2009, Santana et al, 2011, Kang et al, 2012, Forsman et al, 2011, Karpestam et al, 2012, Cooper and Allen, 1994, Cook et al, 2012, Hultgren and Stachowicz, 2009, Hultgren and Stachowicz, 2010 Appendix B.…”

Section: Surface Texture Matchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal Camouflage: Disentangling Disruptive Coloration from Background Matching

Webster¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Camouflage is ubiquitous in the natural world and provides adaptive benefits to both predators and their prey. In this study I test concepts of animal camouflage using the experimental paradigm of humans foraging for real and artificial moth targets on a computer screen and assessed camouflage efficacy by measuring detection rates. Chapter 1 outlines the questions and objectives of this doctoral thesis. In Chapter 2 I introduce the phenomenon of disruptive coloration, followed by a brief-review of the visual mechanisms contributing to visual search. Chapter 3 tested if non-random orientation behaviour of moths in the field could be explained by behaviourally-mediated camouflage. I showed that the preferred fieldorientations of moths were associated with lower detection rates in the lab, and that the relative orientation of the moth to the tree was the key driver. Chapter 4 tested the fundamental assumption that disruptive coloration functions by impairing shape perception.It was predicted that if edge-intersecting patches are disruptive, then altering the shape of a target would interact with edge coloration. Artificial moth-like targets did show an interaction between edge coloration and target shape, which explained detectability. These findings suggest that effectiveness of camouflage due to edge markings is dependent on target shape, which further supports the hypothesis that edge markings function as disruptive coloration. Chapter 5 took a similar approach to chapter 4 but tested if there was an interaction between edge coloration and target boundary visibility, which could explain detectability of moth-like targets. Results from Chapters 4 and 5 suggest that shape and boundary properties play a role in disruptive function of edge markings. Chapter 6 tested how this might occur. It is thought that edge-intersecting patches impair object recognition. It was predicted that moth-like targets with more edge-intersecting patches would be harder to recognise. Recognition was characterised by human foveal vision, monitored by eyetracking. Indeed, targets with a larger number of edge-intersecting patches were associated with being difficult to recognise, and reduced detectability even at the expense of background matching.

show abstract

“…cephalopods; Hanlon, 2007;Hanlon et al, 2009), through minutes (e.g. some poeciliid fish; Cox et al, 2009) to several weeks (e.g. several flatfish species; Ryer et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crypsis in a heterogeneous environment: relationships between changeable polymorphic colour patterns and behaviour in a galaxiid fish

Magellan

Swartz

2012

Freshwater Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary 1. The ability to achieve optimal camouflage varies between microhabitats in heterogeneous environments, potentially restricting individuals to a single habitat or imposing a compromise on crypsis to match several habitats. However, animals may exhibit morphological and behavioural attributes that enhance crypsis in different habitats. 2. We used an undescribed fish species, Galaxias‘nebula’, to investigate two objectives. First, we examined two potential methods of enhancing crypsis: change in colour pattern and selection of a suitable background. Second, we characterised the colour pattern of this unstudied fish and assessed its capacity for crypsis. 3. No background selection was apparent but the area of dark pigment expressed varied between backgrounds, which may negate the requirement to be choosy about habitats. The capacity to change colour and selection of a background that maximises crypsis are most likely separate, non‐mutually exclusive strategies. 4. Galaxias‘nebula’ exhibits polymorphic, non‐interchangeable colour patterns that have elements of both background pattern matching and disruptive colouration. This, coupled with habitat characteristics, suggests a combination of generalist and specialist strategies of habitat use. The fish’s camouflage strategy and air‐breathing ability may be key to survival under increasing pressure from habitat degradation and invasive predators.

show abstract

Benthic fish exhibit more plastic crypsis than non-benthic species in a freshwater spring

Cited by 13 publications

References 45 publications

Colour plasticity and background matching in a threespine stickleback species pair

Colour plasticity and background matching in a threespine stickleback species pair

Animal Camouflage: Disentangling Disruptive Coloration from Background Matching

Crypsis in a heterogeneous environment: relationships between changeable polymorphic colour patterns and behaviour in a galaxiid fish

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About