Ecological requirements determine the expression of a phenotypically plastic color vision trait in three species of Caribbean mantis shrimp within the genus Neogonodactylus (Stomatopoda, Gonodactyloidea)

CHEROSKE, AG; BARBER, PH; CRONIN, TW; Moorpark College; Boston University; Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore County: Ecological requirements determine the expression of a phenotypically plastic color vision trait in three species of Caribbean mantis shrimp within the genus Neogonodactylus (Stomatopoda, Gonodactyloidea).

Stomatopods are marine crustaceans that have some of the most intricate color vision systems known. Recently, it has been shown that postlarvae of some species that inhabit a range of depths can spectrally tune their color vision according to changing light conditions through spectral changes in intrarhabdomal filters. The study reported here quantifies the potential for spectral tuning in adults of three closely-related western Atlantic mantis shrimp (Neogonodactylus) species that differ in their depth range to assess how ecology influences the expression of the stomatopod phenotypically plastic color vision trait and its persistence after settlement.. Animals were maintained in aquaria under either a high intensity, full-spectrum, white-light treatment, or a reduced-intensity, narrow-spectrum, blue-light treatment. After 12 weeks, each of the three species evidenced distinctive tuning abilities according to light environment that correlated with its natural depth range. A molecular phylogeny generated using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase C subunit 1 (CO-1) indicates that two of the species are probably recently diverged, and yet have distinct plastic responses correlated with their different depth ranges. The tunable color vision system of newly metamorphosed stomatopods is therefore a trait that is often retained through later life stages. Our results also indicate that the ability of adult stomatopods to carry out such spectral tuning can undergo rapid evolutionary modification.

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