Shashar N, Rutledge P, Cronin T
J Exp Biol. 1996;199(Pt 9):2077-84. doi: 10.1242/jeb.199.9.2077.
Polarization sensitivity is well documented in marine animals, but its function is not yet well understood. Of the cephalopods, squid and octopus are known to be sensitive to the orientation of polarization of incoming light. This sensitivity arises from the orthogonal orientation of neighboring photoreceptors. Electron microscopical examination of the retina of the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis L. revealed the same orthogonal structure, suggesting that cuttlefish are also sensitive to linearly polarized light. Viewing cuttlefish through an imaging polarized light analyzer revealed a prominent polarization pattern on the arms, around the eyes and on the forehead of the animals. The polarization pattern disappeared when individuals lay camouflaged on the bottom and also during extreme aggression display, attacks on prey, copulation and egg-laying behavior in females. In behavioral experiments, the responses of cuttlefish to their images reflected from a mirror changed when the polarization patterns of the reflected images were distorted. These results suggest that cuttlefish use polarization vision and display for intraspecific recognition and communication.
偏振敏感性在海洋动物中已有充分记载，但其功能尚未得到很好的理解。在头足类动物中，已知鱿鱼和章鱼对入射光的偏振方向敏感。这种敏感性源于相邻光感受器的正交取向。对乌贼Sepia officinalis L.视网膜的电子显微镜检查揭示了相同的正交结构，这表明乌贼也对线性偏振光敏感。通过成像偏振光分析仪观察乌贼，发现其腕部、眼睛周围和前额上有明显的偏振图案。当个体伪装在海底时，以及在极端攻击展示、捕食、交配和雌性产卵行为期间，偏振图案会消失。在行为实验中，当反射图像的偏振图案被扭曲时，乌贼对从镜子反射的自身图像的反应会发生变化。这些结果表明，乌贼利用偏振视觉和展示进行种内识别和交流。
