Lack of polarization optomotor response in the cuttlefish Sepia elongata (d'Orbigny, 1845).
Polarization sensitivity is a characteristic of the visual system of cephalopods. In cuttlefish, it has been particularly well documented in Sepia officinalis. We examined the response of a little studied cuttlefish species, S. elongata, towards a moving, vertically-oriented grating (contrasting and polarized stripes) using an optomotor response apparatus. We also examined the arrangement of the photoreceptors in the retina. Cuttlefish responded to patterns of contrasting stripes but not to a pattern of polarized stripes, although the optical structures that could allow polarization sensitivity were found in their retinas. These results suggest that intensity information and polarization information are perceived differently by cuttlefish.
Darmaillacq
Anne-Sophie
AS
InterUniversity Institute for Marine Sciences, PO Box 469, Eilat, 88103, Israel. anne-sophie.darmaillacq@unicaen.fr
Shashar
Nadav
N
D000818:Animals; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity / Q000502:physiology*; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010786:Photoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D049833:Sepia / Q000502:physiology*