ABSTRACT
Cuttlefish skin is a powerful rendering device, capable of producing extraordinary changes in visual appearance over a broad range of temporal scales. This unique ability is typically associated with camouflage; however, cuttlefish often produce skin patterns that do not appear connected with the surrounding environment, such as fast large-scale fluctuations with wave-like characteristics. Little is known about the functional significance of these dynamic patterns. In this study, we developed novel tools for analyzing pattern dynamics, and demonstrate their utility for detecting changes in feeding state that occur without concomitant changes in sensory stimulation. Under these conditions, we found that the dynamic properties of specific pattern components differ for different feeding states, despite no measurable change in the overall expression of those components. Therefore, these dynamic changes are not detectable by conventional analyses focusing on pattern expression, requiring analytical tools specifically targeted to pattern dynamics.
Footnotes
Author contributions
Conceptualization: S.C., P.N.; Methodology: S.C., P.N.; Software: S.C., P.N.; Validation: S.C., P.N.; Formal analysis: S.C., P.N.; Investigation: S.C., P.N.; Resources: S.C., P.N.; Data curation: S.C., P.N.; Writing - original draft: S.C., P.N.; Writing - review & editing: S.C., P.N.; Visualization: S.C., P.N.; Supervision: P.N.; Project administration: S.C., P.N.; Funding acquisition: S.C., P.N.
Funding
This research was supported by Chaire Beauté(s) L'Oréal-PSL University, Centre national de la recherche scientifique and Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR-10-LABX-0087 to I.E.C., and ANR-10-IDEX-0001-02 to P.S.L.).
Data availability
All relevant data can be found within the article and its supplementary information.
