Hiding opaque eyes in transparent organisms: a potential role for larval eyeshine in stomatopod crustaceans
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2014-06-23
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K. D. Feller and T. W. Cronin, Hiding opaque eyes in transparent organisms: a potential role for larval eyeshine in stomatopod crustaceans, The Journal of Experimental Biology (2014) 217, 3263-3273, DOI:10.1242/jeb.108076
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Abstract
Opaque screening pigments are a fundamental requisite for
preserving resolution in image-forming eyes. Possession of any type
of image-forming eye in a transparent, pelagic animal will thus
undermine the ability of that animal to be invisible in the water
column. Transparent, pelagic animals must therefore deal with the
trade-off between the ability to see and the ability of other animals to
see them. Stomatopod larvae, like many transparent crustaceans,
possess specialized optics in their compound eyes that minimize the
volume of the opaque retina. Though the volumes of these retinas
are reduced, their opacity remains conspicuous to an observer. The
light reflected from structures overlying the retinas of stomatopod
crustacean larval eyes, referred to here as eyeshine, is hypothesized
to further reduce the visibility of opaque retinas. Blue or green
wavelengths of light are most strongly reflected in stomatopod larval
eyeshine, suggesting a putative spectral matching to the light
environment against which the larval eyes are viewed. We tested the
efficacy of stomatopod crustacean larval eyeshine as an ocular
camouflaging mechanism by photographing larvae in their natural
light environment and analysing the contrast of eyes with the
background light. To test for spectral matching between stomatopod
larval eyeshine and the background light environment, we
characterized the spectrum of eyeshine and calculated its
performance using radiometric measurements collected at the time
of each photographic series. These results are the first to
demonstrate an operative mirror camouflage matched in both
spectrum and radiance to the pelagic background light environment.