Can axolotls recognize colors??

[damian]

I have just one simple question.

"can axolotls recognize colors??"

 

[lorie]

Well it depends. I saw a programme on TV that saidd the albino axies are cave animals and so their sight tends to be very poor or they go blind of course.
As for normal axies. They're river animals etc so sometimes they wouldnt be able to see (muddy water etc)
But i do belive they can see colour as theyr use their gills to show off. So even if theu can see all colour i bet they can see red.

 

[joan]

Axolotls are lake dwelling, not river dwelling.

I don't believe the gills are used for any sort of recognition. They're just for breathing.

 

[lorie]

I knew that ^_^ ahahha

Lol that all just info from the tv (but ur right about the river thing. Iment lake ahha)

 

[amber]

Well - having done some dipping into the more scientific side (IOW trawling for the last three hours through baffling scientific pages) - I found some interesting nibbles.

The salamander retina contains two or more classes of rod photoreceptors, mostly red and green.
It also has three classes of cone photoreceptors, red, blue, and ultraviolet.

The red rods are much larger, and the green ones are the smallest.

I would dare to suggest that whilst they have reasonable light/dark recognition, they would "see" red better than green.

Axolotl eyesight isn't particularly strong - however, you could try an experiment - train a 'Lotl to respond to one of two coloured cards, by feeding it when it goes to the "correct" colour card.
Swap them over every now and then so it doesn't get smart - and see if it learns the difference.

Try not to use red and green - they might be colour blind! *laughs*

 

[edward]

Amphibians including caudates have an odd phototaxic response (rather than go into it I refer those interested to page 382-282 of Amphibian Biology by Duellman and Trueb).

With respect to the color vision I quote the following (from the above source) "All experimental evidence indicates at least a limited distinction of different wavelengths of light, but so far there is no solid evidence for the ability to percieve the differences in color evident in so many species of anurans or the breeding coloration in male newts (Triturus)"


Ed

 

[shaun]

I read somewhere that fish can see red stronger than any other colour, just like what Amber said about axie's eyes.