The Losey Lab Research: Using UV

So what is UV, anyway? For a primer on the ultraviolet, click here.

Tropical reef fishes use UV in a number of ways. Some of these are:

UV Vision: employing UV-sensitive cone cells and/or transmitting ultraviolet light to the retina (see our list of species ocular transmission cutoffs). This may aid in:

• prey detection, as has been shown in our lab and others--we found that at least one apogonid species can feed effectively with UV light alone.
• predator detection, but see this page on the camoflauge of Fistularia commersonii
• species recognition, as might be occurring in the case of Dascyllus aruanus and Dascyllus reticulatus - watch the videos!
• communication, such as the flashing of pectoral fins by Chromis ovalis.
• Schooling behavior, like that of Chromis viridis - see the video clips!
• Schooling coordination, as that of Hawaiian Kuhlia species.

UV Coloration: special color patterns exist in the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum that we humans cannot detect without special equipment, such as our UV camera system or spectrophotometer. Fish might be using these patterns to:

• distinguish between species, such as the squirrelfish that all look alike to our eyes, or the Dascyllus mentioned above
• in courtship and mating, as these photos of Abudefduf vaigiensis suggest
• to communicate with each other, such as by the flashing of dark pectoral fins against a lighter flank

Like to know if we have footage of your favorite tropical marine fish in the ultraviolet? Contact us.

For a list of ocular media 50% transmission cutoffs for all the fish we've looked at, jump here.

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