Open Access
How to translate text using browser tools
1 August 2015 Effects of Visual Cues of a Moving Model Predator on Body Patterns in Cuttlefish Sepia pharaonis
Kohei Okamoto, Akira Mori, Yuzuru Ikeda
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

We examined the effects of predator-prey distance (PPD) and trajectory of the predator on the body patterns that the pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, shows in response to a predator. A model predator moving in three different trajectories was presented to the cuttlefish: T1, approached the cuttlefish but bypassed above; T2, approached directly toward the cuttlefish; T3, bypassed the cuttlefish both vertically and horizontally. We divided the body patterns that the cuttlefish expressed into seven categories, i.e., “uniform light”, “disruptive”, “center circle”, “dark square”, “vertical stripe”, “all dark” and “eyespots”. In T1, the number of individuals that showed “dark square” increased as the model approached the cuttlefish, whereas the number of individuals that showed “disruptive” decreased. In T2, the number of individuals that showed “all dark” and “eyespots” increased as the model approached the cuttlefish. In T3, the number of individuals that showed “dark square” and “vertical stripe” increased as the model approached the cuttlefish, and it tended to decrease as the model receded from the cuttlefish. These results demonstrate that S. pharaonis changes its body patterns according to PPD and the trajectory of the predator, which would affect predation risk and/or predator perception.

© 2015 Zoological Society of Japan
Kohei Okamoto, Akira Mori, and Yuzuru Ikeda "Effects of Visual Cues of a Moving Model Predator on Body Patterns in Cuttlefish Sepia pharaonis," Zoological Science 32(4), 336-344, (1 August 2015). https://doi.org/10.2108/zs140288
Received: 19 December 2014; Accepted: 23 April 2015; Published: 1 August 2015
KEYWORDS
body pattern
cuttlefish
predator trajectory
predator-prey distance
primary defense
Back to Top