Brightness illusion in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

A long-standing debate surrounds the issue of whether human and nonhuman species share similar perceptual mechanisms. One experimental strategy to compare visual perception of vertebrates consists in assessing how animals react in the presence of visual illusions. To date, this methodological approach has been widely used with mammals and birds, while few studies have been reported in distantly related species, such as fish. In the present study we investigated whether fish perceive the brightness illusion, a well-known illusion occurring when 2 objects, identical in physical features, appear to be different in brightness. Twelve guppies (Poecilia reticulata) were initially trained to discriminate which rectangle was darker or lighter between 2 otherwise identical rectangles. Three different conditions were set up: neutral condition between rectangle and background (same background used for both darker and lighter rectangle); congruent condition (darker rectangle in a darker background and lighter rectangle in a lighter background); and incongruent condition (darker rectangle in a lighter background and lighter rectangle in a darker background). After reaching the learning criterion, guppies were presented with the illusory pattern: 2 identical rectangles inserted in 2 different backgrounds. Guppies previously trained to select the darker rectangle showed a significant choice of the rectangle that appears to be darker by human observers (and vice versa). The human-like performance exhibited in the presence of the illusory pattern suggests the existence of similar perceptual mechanisms between humans and fish to elaborate the brightness of objects.