Rapid adaptive camouflage in tropical flounders

DESPITE the commonly held view that flatfish can change their surface markings to match their background pattern 1 , there have been few systematic studies 2,3 and it has recently been claimed 4 that their capacity for such adaptive changes is minimal. Here we show that the tropical flatfish Bothus...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1996-02, Vol.379 (6568), p.815-818
Main Authors: Ramachandran, V. S., Tyler, C. W., Gregory, R. L., Rogers-Ramachandran, D., Duensing, S., Pillsbury, C., Ramachandran, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Physiological
Animal behavior
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Bothus ocellatus
Fish
Flounder - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
Marine
multidisciplinary
Particle size
Photography
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Skin
Skin Physiological Phenomena
Vertebrates: skin, associated glands, phaneres, light organs, various exocrine glands (salt gland, uropygial gland...), adipose tissue, connective tissue
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Summary:DESPITE the commonly held view that flatfish can change their surface markings to match their background pattern 1 , there have been few systematic studies 2,3 and it has recently been claimed 4 that their capacity for such adaptive changes is minimal. Here we show that the tropical flatfish Bothus ocellatus can achieve pattern-matching with surprising fidelity. By adjusting the contrast of different sets of 'splotches' of different grain size (or spatial frequency) on the skin, the fish can blend into a wide range of background textures in just 2–8 seconds.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/379815a0