Table 1.
Documented examples of countershading in aquatic and terrestrial animals, with the proposed function where available; the absence indicates the occurrence of countershading without stating a function. (SSC, self shadow concealment.)
| species | proposed function | authors |
|---|---|---|
| aquatic animals | ||
| Sepia officinalis, Loligo vulgaris, Octopus vulgaris | SSC | Ferguson & Messenger (1991) |
| Sepia officinalis | body less obvious against the background when the illumination comes from above | Ferguson et al. (1994) |
| Newfoundland and Labrador cod | camouflage | Gosse et al. (2001) |
| fish louse Anilocra physodes L. (Crustacea: Isopoda) | optical flattening | Korner (1982) |
| whale shark | eliminates the optical appearance of relief | Wilson & Martin (2004) |
| shallow water pony fish, (Leiognathus equulus) | eliminating silhouette | Hastings (1971) |
| Abraliopsis sp. | eliminating silhouette | Young & Roper (1976) |
| African upside down catfishes (Mochokidae) | Chapman et al. (1994) | |
| upside down catfish, (Synodontis nigriventris) | not discussed | Nagaishi et al. (1989) |
| common water bug Notonecta glauca | not discussed | Korner (1982) |
| midwater shrimp (Sergestes similis) | crypsis to silhouette-scanning predators | Lindsay et al. (1999) |
| horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) | intensity of the reflected light equals the intensity of the background for most angles of view | Cott (1940) and Denton & Nicol (1965) |
| European common squid (Alloteuthis subulata) | reduce detectability | Mathger (2003) |
| mammals | ||
| grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) | some reduction in the dorsoventral gradient, suggesting SSC | Kiltie (1989)) |
| naked mole rats (Heterocephalus glaber) | camouflage | Braude et al. (2001) |
| disc-winged bat Thyroptera | not discussed | Gregorin et al. (2006) |
| mice | background matching | Caro (2005) and Lai et al. (2008) |
| oldfield mouse (Peromyscus polionotus) | not discussed | Kaufman (1974) |
| lagomorphs | minimizes shadow | Stoner et al. (2003a) and Caro (2005) |
| some lemurs, lorises, galagos, tarsiers, New world monkeys, Old world monkeys and apes | SSC and background matching | Bradley & Mundy (2008) |
| insects | ||
| larvae of the Smerinthus ocellata, Mimas tiliae, Sphinx ligustri, Endromis versicolora, Apatura ilia, Papilio podalirius, Macroglossum stellatarum, Cerura vinula, Gonepteryx rhamni, Apatura iris | SSC | de Ruiter (1956) and Tinbergen (1957) |
| larvae of Hyalophora cecropia, Antheraea polyphemus, Actias Luna, Callosamia promethea and Smerinthus ocellata | SSC | Thayer (1909, pp. 186–187) |
| reptiles | ||
| rough green snake, (Opheodrys aestivus) | ‘countershading effect’ | Goldsmith (1984) |
| various lizard species including Phrynosoma coronatum, Gerrhonotus multicarinatus | background matching | Norris & Lowe (1964) |
| green sea turtle Chelonia mydas (L.) | background matching | Bustard (1970) |
| birds | ||
| tropical rainforest birds | silhouette reduction | Gomez & Thery (2007) |
| fishing eating Procellariiformes | not discussed | Bretagnolle (1993) |
| American oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus) | SSC | Lauro & Nol (1995) |
| penguin | background matching & thermoregulation | Chester (2001) |
| waders | SSC | Ferns (2003) |
| amphibians | ||
| Rana muscosa | background matching | Norris & Lowe (1964) |