Reflective systems in aquatic animals

Herring, Peter J.

doi:10.1016/0300-9629(94)90192-9

Cited by 115 publications

(113 citation statements)

References 144 publications

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“…Thus, such sections were suitable for histochemical approaches to identify the nature of the reflective tapetal material. In animal multilayer reflectors, the high-refractive index layers can be composed of guanine, hypoxanthine, chitin or protein (Herring, 1994;Land, 1981Land, , 1972. In spiders they have been claimed to consist of guanine crystals (Barth, 2001;Land, 1985;Schwab et al, 2002).…”

Section: Reflective Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polarizing optics in a spider eye

Mueller

Labhart

2010

J Comp Physiol A

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Many arthropods including insects and spiders exploit skylight polarization for navigation. One of the four eye pairs of the spider Drassodes cupreus is dedicated to detect skylight polarization. These eyes are equipped with a tapetum that strongly plane-polarizes reflected light. This effectively enhances the polarization-sensitivity of the photoreceptors, improving orientation performance. With a multidisciplinary approach, we demonstrate that D. cupreus exploits reflective elements also present in non-polarizing tapetal eyes of other species such as Agelena labyrinthica. By approximately orthogonal arrangement of two multilayer reflectors consisting of reflecting guanine platelets, the tapetum uses the mechanism of polarization by reflection for polarizing reflected light.Polarizing optics in a spider eye AbstractMany arthropods including insects and spiders exploit skylight polarization for navigation. One of the four eye pairs of the spider Drassodes cupreus is dedicated to detect skylight polarization. These eyes are equipped with a tapetum that strongly plane-polarizes reflected light. This effectively enhances the polarization-sensitivity of the photoreceptors, improving orientation performance. With a multidisciplinary approach, we demonstrate that D. cupreus exploits reflective elements also present in nonpolarizing tapetal eyes of other species such as Agelena labyrinthica. By approximately orthogonal arrangement of two multilayer reflectors consisting of reflecting guanine platelets, the tapetum uses the mechanism of polarization by reflection for polarizing reflected light.

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Section: Reflective Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polarizing optics in a spider eye

Mueller

Labhart

2010

J Comp Physiol A

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“…Iridophores and leucophores produce structural colours through some combination of specular reflection, constructive interference and scattering (Herring, 1994). Iridophores contain organized stacks of reflecting crystalline platelets of guanine, hypoxanthine or uric acid (Bagnara, 1966 ;Fujii, 1993).…”

Section: Mechanisms Of Colour Production and Colour Change ( 1) mentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual colour patches as multicomponent signals

2004

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Colour patches are complex traits, the components of which may evolve independently through a variety of mechanisms. Although usually treated as simple, two-dimensional characters and classified as either structural or pigmentary, in reality colour patches are complicated, three-dimensional structures that often contain multiple pigment types and structural features. The basic dermal chromatophore unit of fishes, reptiles and amphibians consists of three contiguous cell layers. Xanthophores and erythrophores in the outermost layer contain carotenoid and pteridine pigments that absorb short-wave light ; iridophores in the middle layer contain crystalline platelets that reflect light back through the xanthophores ; and melanophores in the basal layer contain melanins that absorb light across the spectrum. Changes in any one component of a chromatophore unit can drastically alter the reflectance spectrum produced, and for any given adaptive outcome (e.g. an increase in visibility), there may be multiple biochemical or cellular routes that evolution could take, allowing for divergent responses by different populations or species to similar selection regimes. All of the mechanisms of signal evolution that previously have been applied to single ornaments (including whole colour patches) could potentially be applied to the individual components of colour patches. To reach a complete understanding of colour patch evolution, however, it may be necessary to take an explicitly multi-trait approach. Here, we review multiple trait evolution theory and the basic mechanisms of colour production in fishes, reptiles and amphibians, and use a combination of computer simulations and empirical examples to show how multiple trait evolution theory can be applied to the components of single colour patches. This integrative perspective on animal colouration opens up a host of new questions and hypotheses. We offer specific, testable functional hypotheses for the most common pigmentary (carotenoid, pteridine and melanin) and structural components of vertebrate colour patches.

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“…Within the integument (e.g. skin, scales, feathers) colour can be produced either by pigments or physical structures that interact with light (Land 1972;Fox 1976;Herring 1994). Pigments do not produce colours per se, but act as filters that selectively absorb some wavelengths while permitting the reflection of others (Bradbury & Vehrencamp 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pterin pigments amplify iridescent ultraviolet signal in males of the orange sulphur butterfly,Colias eurytheme

et al. 2005

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Animal colouration is typically the product of nanostructures that reflect or scatter light and pigments that absorb it. The interplay between these colour-producing mechanisms may influence the efficacy and potential information content of colour signals, but this notion has received little empirical attention. Wing scales in the male orange sulphur butterfly (Colias eurytheme) possess ridges with lamellae that produce a brilliant iridescent ultraviolet (UV) reflectance via thin-film interference. Curiously, these same scales contain pterin pigments that strongly absorb wavelengths below 550 nm. Given that male UV reflectance functions as a sexual signal in C. eurytheme, it is paradoxical that pigments in the wing scales are highly UV absorbing. We present spectrophotometric analyses of the wings before and after pterin removal that show that pterins both depress the amplitude of UV iridescence and suppress a diffuse UV reflectance that emanates from the scales. This latter effect enhances the directionality and spectral purity of the iridescence, and increases the signal's chromaticity and potential signal content. Our findings also suggest that pterins amplify the contrast between iridescent UV reflectance and scale background colour as a male's wings move during flight.

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Reflective systems in aquatic animals

Cited by 115 publications

References 144 publications

Polarizing optics in a spider eye

Polarizing optics in a spider eye

Individual colour patches as multicomponent signals

Pterin pigments amplify iridescent ultraviolet signal in males of the orange sulphur butterfly,Colias eurytheme

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