TY - JOUR AU - Harant, Ulrike Katharina AU - Michiels, Nicolaas Karel AU - Anthes, Nils AU - Meadows, Melissa Grace PY - 2016 DA - 2016/02/17 TI - The consistent difference in red fluorescence in fishes across a 15 m depth gradient is triggered by ambient brightness, not by ambient spectrum JO - BMC Research Notes SP - 107 VL - 9 IS - 1 AB - Organisms adapt to fluctuations or gradients in their environment by means of genetic change or phenotypic plasticity. Consistent adaptation across small spatial scales measured in meters, however, has rarely been reported. We recently found significant variation in fluorescence brightness in six benthic marine fish species across a 15 m depth gradient. Here, we investigate whether this can be explained by phenotypic plasticity alone, using the triplefin Tripterygion delaisi as a model species. In two separate experiments, we measure change in red fluorescent brightness to spectral composition and ambient brightness, two central parameters of the visual environment that change rapidly with depth. SN - 1756-0500 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-016-1911-z DO - 10.1186/s13104-016-1911-z ID - Harant2016 ER -