Archerfish vision: Visual challenges faced by a predator with a unique hunting technique.

Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology
Cait Newport, Stefan Schuster

Abstract

Archerfish are well-known for their ballistic hunting behaviour, in which they shoot down aerial prey with a well-aimed jet of water. This unique hunting strategy poses several challenges for visual systems. Archerfish face significant distortion to the appearance of targets due to refraction at the air/water interface, they search for prey against a complex background of foliage, they change prey targeting behaviour as conditions change, and they must make high speed decisions to avoid competition. By studying how archerfish have overcome these challenges, we have been able to understand more about fundamental problems faced by visual systems and the mechanisms used to solve them. In some cases, such as when searching for targets, the visual capabilities of archerfish are functionally similar to those of humans, despite significant differences in neuroanatomy. In other cases, the particular challenge faced by archerfish magnifies fundamental problems generally faced by visual systems, such as recognizing objects given strong viewpoint dependent changes to appearance. The efficiency of archerfish retrieving fallen prey to avoid kleptoparasitism, demonstrates that their visual processing excels in both speed and accuracy. In thi...Continue Reading

Citations

Dec 3, 2021·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Nick A R JonesMike M Webster
Jan 11, 2022·ELife·Davide PotrichGiorgio Vallortigara

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