UV for food!
Ultraviolet light is a common term used in life, but do you know its potential in helping...
CRABS?
CRABS?
Half a mile down underneath the ocean, deep sea crabs live out of the reach of sunlight, where it is really, really dark. The thing is, they have a sort of sensitivity for colour vision that combines blue and ULTRAVIOLET light (yes, UV) to detect food, and prevent themselves from eating the wrong stuff like poison.
These crabs eat blue-coloured plankton, but live in waters full of toxic blue-green and green corals and bioluminescence, so it might have been impossible to differentiate them, unless they have this unique mechanism. This is because these crabs, like some other deep-sea creatures, can see ultraviolet wavelengths. Scientists have used this experiment as one of the first in testing how bottom-dwelling animals respond to light.
These crabs eat blue-coloured plankton, but live in waters full of toxic blue-green and green corals and bioluminescence, so it might have been impossible to differentiate them, unless they have this unique mechanism. This is because these crabs, like some other deep-sea creatures, can see ultraviolet wavelengths. Scientists have used this experiment as one of the first in testing how bottom-dwelling animals respond to light.
The scientists from Duke University experimented with deep-sea creatures from 3 ocean-bottom sites by taking videos and images of of how crustaceans ate and the wavelengths of light in which animals nearby glowed. They captured the crustaceans with light-tight, temperature-insulated containers and when they were brought up to the surface, microelectrodes were attached to their eyes.
It was found that two of the species were sensitive to blue and UV light by using two different light sensing channels to make distinctions between the different colours. Therefore, it has been hypothesised that deep-sea crabs, which were seen periodically picking some stuff from the ground into their mouths, have a basic colour code for their food.
Although this is just a preliminary experiment carried out recently, and is still subject to further tests, I feel that this whole diversity of animals and nature is a huge world that we should explore continuously, and am very intrigued by this type of findings! Sometimes, I can't help but think that the biodiversity of animals is even greater than that of humans. From the way different species of animals travel, consume food, communicate etc., humans' lifestyle compared to theirs is far from impressive. Animals constantly adapt to their environment, like the crabs mentioned above, unlike humans who have difficulty adapting to the slightest of changes. Nature is impressive!
It was found that two of the species were sensitive to blue and UV light by using two different light sensing channels to make distinctions between the different colours. Therefore, it has been hypothesised that deep-sea crabs, which were seen periodically picking some stuff from the ground into their mouths, have a basic colour code for their food.
Although this is just a preliminary experiment carried out recently, and is still subject to further tests, I feel that this whole diversity of animals and nature is a huge world that we should explore continuously, and am very intrigued by this type of findings! Sometimes, I can't help but think that the biodiversity of animals is even greater than that of humans. From the way different species of animals travel, consume food, communicate etc., humans' lifestyle compared to theirs is far from impressive. Animals constantly adapt to their environment, like the crabs mentioned above, unlike humans who have difficulty adapting to the slightest of changes. Nature is impressive!
A little more... Mantis shrimps
Mantis shrimps, an ancient group of crustaceans, can actually see twelve wavelengths of light with their complex eyes (colours range from the infra-red to ultraviolet). No other animal on the planet posses such powerful eyes like those of the mantis shrimp's. If you want to know more, check out this video.