BEHAVIORAL EVIDENCE FOR COLOR-VISION IN STOMATOPOD CRUSTACEANS

If an organism can be taught to respond in a particular way to a wavel ength of light, irrespective of that light's intensity. then it must b e able to perceive the colour of the stimulus. No marine invertebrate has yet been shown to have colour vision. Stomatopod crustaceans (mant is shrimps) are colourful animals and their eyes have many adaptations which indicate that the) are capable of such spectral analysis. We ad opted an associative learning paradigm to attempt to demonstrate colou r vision. Stomatopods readily learnt to choose some colours from array s of greys, even when the correct choice colours were darker than the ones they had been trained to. Possible mechanisms underlying colour v ision in these animals. and their ecological significance are discusse d. A simple model is presented which may help interpret the complex-st omatopod colour vision system and explain some of the learning anomali es.