Colour change and behavioural choice facilitate chameleon prawn camouflage against different seaweed backgrounds

Autor(es)

Green, Samuel D. ^[1] ; Duarte, Rafael C. ^{[2, 3]} ; Kellett, Emily ^[1] ; Alagaratnam, Natasha ^[1] ; Stevens, Martin ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Exeter, Ctr Ecol & Conservat, Penryn Campus, Penryn TR10 9FE, Cornwall - England

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Ctr Biol Marinha, BR-11612109 Sao Sebastiao - Brazil

^[3] Univ Fed ABC, Ctr Ciencias Nat & Humanas, BR-09606045 Sao Bernardo Do Campo - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY; v. 2, JUN 21 2019.
• Citações Web of Science: 0

Resumo

Camouflage is driven by matching the visual environment, yet natural habitats are rarely uniform and comprise many backgrounds. Therefore, species often exhibit adaptive traits to maintain crypsis, including colour change and behavioural choice of substrates. However, previous work largely considered these solutions in isolation, whereas many species may use a combination of behaviour and appearance to facilitate concealment. Here we show that green and red chameleon prawns (Hippolyte varians) closely resemble their associated sea-weed substrates to the vision of predatory fish, and that they can change colour to effectively match new backgrounds. Prawns also select colour-matching substrates when offered a choice. However, colour change occurs over weeks, consistent with seasonal changes in algal cover, whereas behavioural choice of matching substrates occurs in the short-term, facilitating matches within heterogeneous environments. We demonstrate how colour change and behaviour combine to facilitate camouflage against different substrates in environments varying spatially and temporally. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 15/04484-8 - Camuflagem por semelhança com o substrato e coloração disruptiva na espécie de camarão polimórfica Hippolyte obliquimanus
• Beneficiário: Rafael Campos Duarte
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Exterior - Estágio de Pesquisa - Doutorado