Spectral and spatial properties of polarized light reflections from the arms of squid (Loligo pealeii) and cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis L.)
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Date
2007-07-16
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Citation of Original Publication
Tsyr-Huei Chiou, Lydia M. Mäthger, Roger T. Hanlon, Thomas W. Cronin, Spectral and spatial properties of polarized light reflections from the arms of squid (Loligo pealeii) and cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis L.), Journal of Experimental Biology 2007 210: 3624-3635; doi: 10.1242/jeb.006932
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Abstract
On every arm of cuttlefish and squid there is a stripe of
high-reflectance iridophores that reflects highly polarized
light. Since cephalopods possess polarization vision, it has
been hypothesized that these polarized stripes could serve
an intraspecific communication function. We determined
how polarization changes when these boneless arms move.
By measuring the spectral and polarizing properties of the
reflected light from samples at various angles of tilt and
rotation, we found that the actual posture of the arm has
little or no effect on partial polarization or the e-vector
angle of the reflected light. However, when the illumination
angle changed, the partial polarization of the reflected light
also changed. The spectral reflections of the signals were
also affected by the angle of illumination but not by the
orientation of the sample. Electron microscope samples
showed that these stripes are composed of several groups of
multilayer platelets within the iridophores. The surface
normal to each group is oriented at a different angle, which
produces essentially constant reflection of polarized light
over a range of viewing angles. These results demonstrate
that cuttlefish and squid could send out reliable
polarization signals to a receiver regardless of arm
orientation.