Pelvicachromis taeniatus and near-infrared visual sensitivity

[mchambers]

Scientific paper demonstrating that fish can use near-infrared sensitivity to forage. The fish in question are P. taeniatus. (No collection point specified, disappointingly, but from the cover picture it might be Moliwe.)

http://www.evolution.uni-bonn.de/ar...detection-by-near-infrared-cues-in-a-fish.pdf

 

[chriscoli]

very cool, thanks for sharing!

 

[neut]

Nice article.

Since various fish species see in ultraviolet and other wavelengths and some have polarized light receptors, in effect, humans are somewhat color blind in terms of how fish see each other or their environment. Species that look nearly identical to us can have distinct identifying patterns at wavelengths that are obvious to the fish themselves. I think we tend to overlook this when we debate whether some fish are the same or not.

...It would be interesting with cichlids that change color with mood, spawning, etc. to see what's happening in the wavelengths we don't see.