Buresch Kendra C, Mäthger Lydia M, Allen Justine J, Bennice Chelsea, Smith Neal, Schram Jonathan, Chiao Chuan-Chin, Chubb Charles, Hanlon Roger T
Marine Resources Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543, United States.
Vision Res. 2011 Dec 8;51(23-24):2362-8. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2011.09.009. Epub 2011 Sep 22.
Cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis, commonly use their visually-guided, rapid adaptive camouflage for multiple tactics to avoid detection or recognition by predators. Two common tactics are background matching and resembling an object (masquerade) in the immediate area. This laboratory study investigated whether cuttlefish preferentially camouflage themselves to resemble a three-dimensional (3D) object in the immediate visual field (via the mechanism of masquerade/deceptive resemblance) rather than the 2D benthic substrate surrounding them (via the mechanisms of background matching or disruptive coloration). Cuttlefish were presented with a combination of benthic substrates (natural rocks or artificial checkerboard and grey printouts) and 3D objects (natural rocks or cylinders with artificial checkerboards and grey printouts glued to the outside) with visual features known to elicit each of three camouflage body pattern types (Uniform, Mottle and Disruptive). Animals were tested for a preference to show a body pattern appropriate for the 3D object or the benthic substrate. Cuttlefish responded by masquerading as the 3D object, rather than resembling the benthic substrate, only when presented with a high-contrast object on a substrate of lower contrast. Contrast is, therefore, one important cue in the cuttlefish's preference to resemble 3D objects rather than the benthic substrate.
乌贼（Sepia officinalis）通常会运用其视觉引导的快速适应性伪装，采取多种策略来避免被捕食者发现或识别。两种常见的策略是背景匹配以及模仿周围区域的物体（拟态）。这项实验室研究调查了乌贼是否更倾向于通过伪装成眼前视野中的三维（3D）物体（通过拟态/欺骗性相似机制），而非通过背景匹配或破坏性着色机制来模仿其周围的二维底栖基质，从而实现自我伪装。研究人员向乌贼展示了底栖基质（天然岩石或人造棋盘格以及灰色打印件）和3D物体（天然岩石或外面粘贴有人造棋盘格和灰色打印件的圆柱体）的组合，这些物体的视觉特征已知会引发三种伪装身体图案类型（均匀型、斑驳型和破坏型）中的每一种。研究人员测试了乌贼是否更倾向于展示适合3D物体或底栖基质的身体图案。只有当在对比度较低的基质上呈现高对比度物体时，乌贼才会通过伪装成3D物体做出反应，而不是模仿底栖基质。因此，对比度是乌贼更倾向于模仿3D物体而非底栖基质的一个重要线索。
