RAPID ADAPTIVE CAMOUFLAGE IN TROPICAL FLOUNDERS

Despite the commonly held view that flatfish can change their surface markings to match their background pattern(1), there have been few sys tematic studies(2,3) and it has recently been claimed(4) that their ca pacity for such adaptive changes is minimal. Here we show that the tro pical flatfish Bothus ocellatus can achieve pattern-matching with surp rising fidelity. By adjusting the contrast of different sets of 'splot ches' of different grain size (or spatial frequency) on the skin, the fish can blend into a wide range of background textures in just 2-8 se conds.