Hyperspectral imaging of cuttlefish camouflage indicates good color match in the eyes of fish predators
Hyperspectral imaging of cuttlefish camouflage indicates good color match in the eyes of fish predators
Date
2011-03-31
Authors
Chiao, Chuan-Chin
Wickiser, J. Kenneth
Allen, Justine J.
Genter, Brock
Hanlon, Roger T.
Wickiser, J. Kenneth
Allen, Justine J.
Genter, Brock
Hanlon, Roger T.
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Abstract
Camouflage is a widespread phenomenon throughout nature and an important
anti-predator tactic in natural selection. Many visual predators have keen color
perception, thus camouflage patterns should provide some degree of color matching in
addition to other visual factors such as pattern, contrast, and texture. Quantifying
camouflage effectiveness in the eyes of the predator is a challenge from the
perspectives of both biology and optical imaging technology. Here we take advantage
of Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI), which records full-spectrum light data, to
simultaneously visualize color match and pattern match in the spectral and the spatial
domains, respectively. Cuttlefish can dynamically camouflage themselves on any
natural substrate and, despite their colorblindness, produce body patterns that appear
to have high-fidelity color matches to the substrate when viewed directly by humans
or with RGB images. Live camouflaged cuttlefish on natural backgrounds were
imaged using HSI, and subsequent spectral analysis revealed that most reflectance
spectra of individual cuttlefish and substrates were similar, rendering the color match
possible. Modeling color vision of potential di- and tri-chromatic fish predators of
cuttlefish corroborated the spectral match analysis and demonstrated that camouflaged
cuttlefish show good color match as well as pattern match in the eyes of fish predators.
These findings (i) indicate the strong potential of HSI technology to enhance studies
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of biological coloration, and (ii) provide supporting evidence that cuttlefish can
produce color-coordinated camouflage on natural substrates despite lacking color
vision.
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Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of National Academy of Sciences for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108 (2011):9148-9153, doi:10.1073/pnas.1019090108.