Visual discrimination and resolution in freshwater stingrays (Potamotrygon motoro).
J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2020;
207:43-58. [PMID:
33263813 PMCID:
PMC7875849 DOI:
10.1007/s00359-020-01454-2]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2020] [Revised: 09/30/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Potamotrygon motoro has been shown to use vision to orient in a laboratory setting and has been successfully trained in cognitive behavioral studies using visual stimuli. This study explores P. motoro's visual discrimination abilities in the context of two-alternative forced-choice experiments, with a focus on shape and contrast, stimulus orientation, and visual resolution. Results support that stingrays are able to discriminate stimulus-presence and -absence, overall stimulus contrasts, two forms, horizontal from vertical stimulus orientations, and different colors that also vary in brightness. Stingrays tested in visual resolution experiments demonstrated a range of visual acuities from < 0.13 to 0.23 cpd under the given experimental conditions. Additionally, this report includes the first evidence for memory retention in this species.
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