Study proposes explanation for how cephalopods see color, despite black and white vision
For years, camera-makers have sought ways to avoid chromatic aberration—the color fringes that occur when various wavelengths of light focus at different distances behind a lens.
But where photographers see a problem, some sea creatures see possibility.
A new study, co-authored by the father-and-son team of Christopher and Alexander Stubbs, suggests that chromatic aberration may explain how cephalopods—the class of animals that includes squid, octopi and cuttlefish—can demonstrate such remarkable camouflage abilities despite only being able to see in black and white. The study is described in a July 4, 2016 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Spectral discrimination in color blind animals via chromatic aberration and pupil shape”, PNAS, www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1524578113
Chambered Nautilus, at Pairi Daiza, Brugelette, Belgium. Credit: © Hans Hillewaert/CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikipedia
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