Colour discrimination thresholds vary throughout colour space in a reef fish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus)

Abstract

Animals use colour vision in a range of behaviours. Visual performance is limited by thresholds, which are set by noise in photoreceptors and subsequent neural processing. The receptor noise limited (RNL) model of colour discrimination is widely used for modelling colour vision and accounts well for experimental data from many species. In one of the most comprehensive tests yet of colour discrimination in a non-human species, we used Ishihara-style stimulus patterns to examine thresholds for 21 directions at five locations in colour space for the fish Rhinecanthus aculeatus. Thresholds matched RNL model predictions most closely for stimuli near the achromatic point, but exceeded predictions (indicating a decline in sensitivity) with distance from this point. Thresholds were also usually higher for saturation than for hue differences. These changes in colour threshold with colour space location and direction may give insight into photoreceptor non-linearities and postreceptoral mechanisms of colour vision in fish. Our results highlight the need for a cautious interpretation of the RNL model – especially for modelling colours that differ from one another in saturation (rather than hue), and for highly saturated colours distant from the achromatic point in colour space.