Circadian rhythm of physiological color change in the amphibian Bufo ictericus under different photoperiods

Abstract

Ectothermic vertebrates can exhibit chromatic adaptation to the environment. The aim of this work was to characterize the rhythm of color change of the amphibian Bufo ictericus, submitted to different photoperiodic regimens, as quantified by skin reflectance values. Adult males were maintained under a 12 : 12 Light/Dark (LD) cycle during seven days before every experiment. During the experiments, animals were kept in individual boxes for 8 days, under the following photoperiodic regimens: LD 12 : 12, LD 14 : 10, DD and LL. In the last 3 days of the treatments, the reflectance of the toad dorsal skins was measured at 3-h intervals, with the aid of a reflectometer. A 3-day time series consisting of 8 data points per day was obtained, which was analyzed by the Cosinor method. The analysis demonstrated that the reflectance values exhibited significant circadian oscillations in the regimens LD 12 : 12, LD 14 : 10 and DD, suggesting that the specie B. ictericus shows an effective circadian rhythm of color change. The reflectance values did not exhibit a significant circadian rhythm in the LL regimen showing that this is a condition not permissive for the expression of the color change rhythm.