Fine structure and optical properties of biological polarizers in crustaceans and cephalopods

Tsyr-Huei Chiou; Roy L. Caldwell; Roger T. Hanlon; Thomas W. Cronin

doi:10.1117/12.780061

24 March 2008 Fine structure and optical properties of biological polarizers in crustaceans and cephalopods

Tsyr-Huei Chiou, Roy L. Caldwell, Roger T. Hanlon, Thomas W. Cronin

Proceedings Volume 6972, Polarization: Measurement, Analysis, and Remote Sensing VIII; 697203 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.780061
Event: SPIE Defense and Security Symposium, 2008, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

The lighting of the underwater environment is constantly changing due to attenuation by water, scattering by suspended particles, as well as the refraction and reflection caused by the surface waves. These factors pose a great challenge for marine animals which communicate through visual signals, especially those based on color. To escape this problem, certain cephalopod mollusks and stomatopod crustaceans utilize the polarization properties of light. While the mechanisms behind the polarization vision of these two animal groups are similar, several distinctive types of polarizers (i.e. the structure producing the signal) have been found in these animals. To gain a better knowledge of how these polarizers function, we studied the relationships between fine structures and optical properties of four types of polarizers found in cephalopods and stomatopods. Although all the polarizers share a somewhat similar spectral range, around 450- 550 nm, the reflectance properties of the signals and the mechanisms used to produce them have dramatic differences. In cephalopods, stack-plates polarizers produce the polarization patterns found on the arms and around their eyes. In stomatopods, we have found one type of beam-splitting polarizer based on photonic structures and two absorptive polarizer types based on dichroic molecules. These stomatopod polarizers may be found on various appendages, and on the cuticle covering dorsal or lateral sides of the animal. Since the efficiencies of all these polarizer types are somewhat sensitive to the change of illumination and viewing angle, how these animals compensate with different behaviors or fine structural features of the polarizer also varies.

Citation Download Citation

Tsyr-Huei Chiou, Roy L. Caldwell, Roger T. Hanlon, and Thomas W. Cronin "Fine structure and optical properties of biological polarizers in crustaceans and cephalopods", Proc. SPIE 6972, Polarization: Measurement, Analysis, and Remote Sensing VIII, 697203 (24 March 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.780061

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available