The fiddler crab Uca mjoebergi uses colour vision in mate choice
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Assays to Detect UV-reflecting Structures and Determine their Importance in Mate Preference using the Sailfin Molly Poecilia latipinna
Published on: September 14, 2016
1Centre for Visual Sciences, Research School of Biological Sciences, The Australian National University, PO Box 475, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia. tanya.detto@hotmail.com
Abstract:
Although the role of colour in mate choice is well known, few tests of colour vision have been based on mating behaviour. Females of the fiddler crab Uca mjoebergi have recently been shown to use claw coloration to recognize conspecific males. In this study I demonstrate that the females use colour vision for this task; preferentially approaching yellow claws over grey claws regardless of their intensity while failing to discriminate between yellow claws differing in intensity. This is one of only a handful of studies confirming the involvement of colour vision in mate choice and the first conclusive evidence in fiddler crabs.
Related Concept Videos
Channel Rhodopsins
Rhodopsins belong to the family of cell surface proteins called G-protein coupled receptors,...
Color Vision
Mate Choice
Photoreceptors and Plant Responses to Light
UV–Vis Spectroscopy: Woodward–Fieser Rules
Anatomy of the Eyeball

