Shrimps In Sights
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University research has identified a completely new type of vision never seen before in the animal world – and it is probably all about sex. Professor Justin Marshall, from the University’s School of Biomedical Sciences and the Queensland Brain Institute, has found the common mantis shrimp sees light in a way that is vastly different to other animals, including humans.
“We are sensitive to light intensity and colour, but we need cameras and filters to allow us to see different types of light,” Professor Marshall said. “To find out these animals can see circular polarised light, it is as if we had discovered colour vision for the first time – it is quite a breakthrough. “Only the males have this ability, implying it has something to do with sex. “It is probably some secret communication channel between males and females while at the same time preventing predators from knowing what was going on.”
He said the mantis shrimp was an amazing animal to study as it had a very small brain but one of the world’s most complex visual systems. “Humans only have three colour channels,” he said. “These little guys have 12, and can see both linear and circular polarised light – it is remarkable.” The research was published in Current Biology.
