A study was published in the journal Science Advances stating that cuttlefish can see in three dimensions and use their brains to sense depth.
The lead author of the study, Trevor Wardill, an assistant professor of ecology, evolution and behavior at the University of Minnesota, told CBS News that it was not an easy task to put the 3D glasses on the cuttlefish.
Watch to learn more below!
[rumble video_id=v625kx domain_id=u7nb2]
Video credit: Rumble
“We glued Velcro to the skin of the cuttlefish and then fastened the 3D glasses to the Velcro on the skin,” he said. He added that “the mollusk was immediately given a shrimp as a reward for its performance.”
Scientists showed the animated images of shrimp to cuttlefish when they used to the glasses. The researcher observed how the creatures use information from both their eyes and where the cuttlefish tried to strike at the regarded location of the shrimp.
They were surprised to see the result as they saw cuttlefish spread their tentacles and attacked the on-screen shrimp the same way they would have done it in wild. The cuttlefish changed their position in the tank when the researchers made the shrimp film images seem nearer or farther away.
They discovered that the species’ vision works in a similar way to humans’. This discovery was a huge revelation for the researchers. “We were thrilled! This is not surprising for mammals, but it’s a remarkable outcome for this kind of invertebrate,” Wardill said.
The researchers also found that cuttlefish is able to differentiate real objects from a photograph despite the strong similarities of pictorial cues and make use of shading and directional illumination cues.
They were able to learn that cuttlefish can consider the differences between what their eyes see using computations in the brain known as stereopsis, also they consequently adjust their position in the tank in real-time.
[rumble video_id=v4x6g7 domain_id=u7nb2]