Sigl R et al. (2016), The role of vision for navigation in the crown-...

ECB-ART-44844

Sci Rep 2016 Aug 01;6:30834. doi: 10.1038/srep30834.

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The role of vision for navigation in the crown-of-thorns seastar, Acanthaster planci.

Sigl R , Steibl S , Laforsch C .

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Coral reefs all over the Indo-Pacific suffer from substantial damage caused by the crown-of-thorns seastar Acanthaster planci, a voracious predator that moves on and between reefs to seek out its coral prey. Chemoreception is thought to guide A. planci. As vision was recently introduced as another sense involved in seastar navigation, we investigated the potential role of vision for navigation in A. planci. We estimated the spatial resolution and visual field of the compound eye using histological sections and morphometric measurements. Field experiments in a semi-controlled environment revealed that vision in A. planci aids in finding reef structures at a distance of at least 5 m, whereas chemoreception seems to be effective only at very short distances. Hence, vision outweighs chemoreception at intermediate distances. A. planci might use vision to navigate between reef structures and to locate coral prey, therefore improving foraging efficiency, especially when multidirectional currents and omnipresent chemical cues on the reef hamper chemoreception.

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Genes referenced: LOC100893907

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References [+] :

Aizenberg, Calcitic microlenses as part of the photoreceptor system in brittlestars. 2001, Pubmed, Echinobase

	Figure 1. Experimental area and eyes of A. planci. (a) Reef structure used in the main experiment. (b) Arm tip of a moving A. planci; red arrow indicates the compound eye and the white arrow the extended sensory tube feet. (c) Compound eye of a small A. planci.
	Figure 2. Visual field of A. planci. (a) Horizontal visual field. (b) Vertical visual field. Projected red lines represent the maximum visual field, black lines the minimum visual field.
	Figure 3. Mean direction of movement of non-blinded and blinded A. planci downstream of a reef structure.Mean compass directions of movement of A. planci released at different distances downstream a reef structure. (a) Non-blinded A. planci. (b) Blinded A. planci. Circles show compass directions in degrees and are orientated geographically. Arrows inside the circles point towards the mean direction of movement. Asterisks indicate the significance level of a preferred direction (0.01; *0.001). Hatched structures symbolize reef structure. Arrowheads to the right indicate the direction of the current.