“…The deimatic display is usually observed in experiments involving visual stimuli (Langridge, 2009;Mather, 2010;Staudinger et al, 2011); it is considered a threat (or startle) display to deter potential predators (Staudinger et al, 2013) and is defined by a flattened body shape, paling of the skin, the presence of paired, dark mantle spots, a dark fin line, dark eye rings and a dilation of the pupil (Hanlon and Messenger, 1988;Hanlon and Messenger, 1996). The startle response has been described for several taxa, mostly vertebrates and insects (Hoy et al, 1989;Pilz and Schnitzler, 1996;Koch, 1999;Kastelein et al, 2008) and is provoked by an intense and unexpected stimulus, has a short delay, and involves a fast motor response including escape responses and subtler movement such as eye blinks (Hoy et al, 1989;Koch, 1999;Götz and Janik, 2011). Based on these descriptions of the startle response, we defined one of the responses in S. officinalis as a startle response.…”