Stomatopod photoreceptor spectral tuning as an adaptation for colour constancy in water

D. Osorio, N. Justin Marshall , Thomas W. Cronin, Stomatopod photoreceptor spectral tuning as an adaptation for colour constancy in water, Vision Research Volume 37, Issue 23, December 1997, Pages 3299-3309, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0042-6989(97)00136-3

Rights

This item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.

Subjects

colour constancy
visual ecology
spectral tuning
stomatopoda

Abstract

Where colour is used in communication absolute judgement of signalling spectra is important, and failures of colour constancy may limit performance. Stomatopod crustaceans have unusual eyes in which the midband contains ten or more classes of photoreceptor. For constancy based on receptor adaptation to a fixed background, elementary theory predicts and we confirm by modelling, that stomatopods' narrow-band receptors outperform more broadly tuned receptors. Similar considerations could account for the small spectral separation of receptors in each midband row. Thus, stomatopods seem to trade-off sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio for increased colour constancy.