Comparative study of spectral sensitivity, irradiance sensitivity, spatial resolution and temporal resolution in the visual systems of Ocypode quadrata and Aratus pisonii.

Abstract

Early pioneering studies by Autrum on terrestrial arthropods first revealed that the visual systems of arthropods reflected their lifestyles and habitats. Subsequent studies have examined and confirmed Autrum's hypothesis that visual adaptions are driven by predator-prey interactions and activity cycles, with rapidly moving predatory diurnal species generally possessing better temporal resolution than slower moving nocturnal species. However, few studies have compared the vision between diurnal herbivores and nocturnal predators. In this study, the visual physiology of a nocturnal fast-moving predatory crab, the Atlantic ghost crab (Ocypode quadrata) and a diurnal herbivorous crab, the mangrove tree crab (Aratus pisonii), was examined. Spectral sensitivity, irradiance sensitivity and temporal resolution of the crabs were quantified using the electroretinogram (ERG), while the spatial resolution was calculated utilizing morphological methods. Both O. quadrata and A. pisonii had a single dark-adapted spectral sensitivity peak (494 and 499 nm, respectively) and chromatic adaptation had no effect on their spectral sensitivity, indicating that both species have monochromatic visual systems. The temporal resolution of O. quadrata was not significantly different from that of A. pisonii, but O. quadrata did possess a significantly greater spatial resolution and irradiance sensitivity. Both species possess an acute zone in the anterior region of their eyes. The data presented in this study will aid in the current understanding of the correlation between visual physiology and the life history of the animal.