POLARISATION VISION, AN UNEXPLORED CHANNEL FOR COMMUNICATION?
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1
The University of Queensland, Queensland Brain Institute, Australia
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2
University of Bristol, School of Biological Sciences, United Kingdom
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3
University of Maryland Baltimore County, Biological Sciences, United States
Polarisation sensitivity is widespread in the animal kingdom but is often associated with ‘locked-in’ tasks such as navigation, using the celestial hemisphere pattern of polarised light, or water-body detection by recognising polarisation reflection. The purpose of our research in this area has been to reveal polarisation signals in animals and determine anatomically, physiologically and behaviourally how these are orchestrated.
We have used a combined approach with new behavioural assays, intracellular electrophysiology, anatomy (light and electron microscopy) and reflectometry to quantify aspects of the whole system in a number of animals including crustaceans, cephalopods and fish.
As other researchers have found, vertebrates (fish) continue to be frustrating and yield equivocal results. Crustaceans and cephalopods, however, are revealing a potential world of detail in polarisation communication previously not suspected. Representatives tested for both groups (3 crustaceans and 4 cephalopods) can detect polarisation plane (e-vector) differences 10x more accurately than known before, down to close to 1o. This suggests a similar degree of information content as is known for colours and colour communication.
Underwater, the need to maximise the efficacy of information has driven the specific production of clearly identifiable signals in eg mantis shrimp and cuttlefish. As colour becomes unreliable over depth or distance, polarisation may be a better signalling system. Certainly the cephalopods, and to some extent the crustaceans, have invested in this type of vision more heavily than colour. In particular the stomatopod crustaceans seem obsessed with polarisation and have exploited both circular and linear polarisation.
Because humans are largely blind to polarised light, we have tended to ignore it. This is very short-sighted.
Keywords:
behaviour,
Ecology,
Eye,
Polarisation,
signal,
Vision
Conference:
Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology, College Park. Maryland USA, United States, 5 Aug - 10 Aug, 2012.
Presentation Type:
Invited Symposium (only for people who have been invited to a particular symposium)
Topic:
Sensory: Vision
Citation:
Marshall
J,
How
M,
Chiou
T,
Roberts
N,
Temple
S and
Cronin
T
(2012). POLARISATION VISION, AN UNEXPLORED CHANNEL FOR COMMUNICATION?.
Conference Abstract:
Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnbeh.2012.27.00191
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Received:
29 Apr 2012;
Published Online:
07 Jul 2012.
*
Correspondence:
Prof. Justin Marshall, The University of Queensland, Queensland Brain Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia, justin.marshall@uq.edu.au