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How does the valuable blunt-tail prawn see?

Gennadas valens · order Decapoda · Crustaceans

The valuable blunt-tail prawn has one cone type, so no colour vision in daylight.[1] Its sharpest vision resolves 0.17 cycles per degree, against 63.75 for people in this dataset.[6] The valuable blunt-tail prawn stops seeing flicker at 22.5 Hz, against 60 Hz for people.[24][25][26]

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  • 1colour receptor classMeasured
  • 0.17cycles per degree (sharpness)Measured
  • 22.5hertz flicker fusion (motion)Estimated

The valuable blunt-tail prawn (Gennadas valens) is a crustacean in the order Decapoda. Its eyes belong to the vision type Crustacean (mantis shrimp, crab): compound eyes whose colour classes, ultraviolet and polarisation vision vary widely between species. Measured in this species: colour and sharpness. Measured colour or sharpness: a measured receptor set or acuity in this species; other dials come from relatives or group defaults.

This is a simulation built from published eye measurements, not what the animal experiences.

Method: How we know what animals see (the See Like Animals vision engine) · Sources · Last updated . Every value below carries its evidence level and sources; nothing is typed by hand.

What the valuable blunt-tail prawn sees: colour receptors

Valuable blunt-tail prawn colour receptor peaks, 300 to 700 nmValuable blunt-tail prawn: 1 receptor peak at 495 nm; you: 3 at 421.5, 532, 558.4 nm. ultraviolet300400500600700
Valuable blunt-tail prawn: 495 nmPeople: 421.5, 532, 558.4 nmWavelength in nanometres

What does a valuable blunt-tail prawn's vision look like?

The valuable blunt-tail prawn has one cone type, so no colour vision in daylight.[1] Fine detail is blurred to what 0.17 cycles per degree can resolve.

Can the valuable blunt-tail prawn see colour?

Not in daylight: the valuable blunt-tail prawn has one cone type, so it sees brightness but no hue.[1]

How far can the valuable blunt-tail prawn see?

Distance depends on the size of what is seen, so sharpness is the measure. The valuable blunt-tail prawn resolves 0.17 cycles per degree, against 63.75 for people in this dataset, so a detail must be about 375 times larger, or that much closer, for it to make it out as well as a person.[6]

Can the valuable blunt-tail prawn see in the dark?

The catalogue records activity pattern: nocturnal and rods vs cones: no rods (invertebrate photoreceptors). Night mode in the tool uses these traits by a stated engine rule, not a measured sensitivity.[2]

Does the valuable blunt-tail prawn see in slow motion?

The valuable blunt-tail prawn stops seeing flicker at 22.5 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset. So fast motion looks choppier to it than to people, not slower.[24][25][26]

What stands out

  • It has one receptor class for colour, so it sees brightness but no hue.
  • Its sharpest vision resolves 0.17 cycles per degree: the finest stripe pattern it can tell apart from grey.
  • It stops seeing flicker at 22.5 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset, so fast motion looks choppier to it.[27][25]
  • Activity pattern: nocturnal.

The six dials

Evidence levels: how the tiers work. "Measured" means a value measured in this species; "Estimated" values come from a close relative or an eye-size formula. The last column gives the values for people from the same catalogue.

Vision values for the valuable blunt-tail prawn (Gennadas valens), catalogue-v1
DialValueEvidenceSourcesPeople
ColourColour receptors
1 receptor class: 495 nm (MWS (green))
measured in this species
Measured[1]Colour receptors: 3 receptor classes: 421.5 nm (VS/SWS (violet)), 532 nm (MWS (green)), 558.4 nm (LWS (long)) Measured (not re-verified)[2][3][4][5]
SharpnessAcuity
0.17 cycles per degree
median of 1 compilation rows (method priority rule)
Measured[6]Acuity: 63.75 cycles per degree Measured[7][8]
Angle between facets
1.6°
median of 1 relatives in class Malacostraca: Phronima sedentaria
Group default[9]
Eye type
compound eye
Field of viewNo value in the catalogue.Binocular overlap: 122.5° Measured[10][11]
Total field of view: 200° Measured (not re-verified)[12]
Blind area behind the head: 160° Derived[12]
Eye placement: frontal Derived[10][11]
Sharp zones (foveas)No value in the catalogue.Number of foveas: 1 Measured[13]
Fovea type: fovea Measured[13]
Night visionActivity pattern
nocturnal
group default: mode of tier-A values in vision type the "Crustacean (mantis shrimp, crab)" type within phylum Arthropoda (1 species: Ligia exotica)
Group default[2]Activity pattern: diurnal Measured (not re-verified)[14][15][16][2][17][18][19][20]
Pupil shape: vertical Group default[21][22]
Reflective layer (tapetum): no Measured[23]
Rods vs cones: cone-dominated Derived[14][15][16][2][17][18][19][20]
Rods vs cones
no rods (invertebrate photoreceptors)		Group default[2]
Motion (flicker fusion)Flicker fusion frequency
22.5 Hz
median of 24 relatives in order Decapoda: Eugonatonotus crassus, Eumunida picta, Gastroptychus spinifer, Funchalia villosa, Janicella spinicauda, Oplophorus gracilirostris
Group default[24][25][26]Flicker fusion frequency: 60 Hz Measured[27][25]

Other senses

  • polarisation vision: optional overlay of degree/angle of linear polarisation (Group default)

Related animals

More crustaceans: all crustaceans with measured vision data. Same eye type: Crustacean (mantis shrimp, crab).

Sources

  1. Porter ML. Crustacean photoreceptor lambda max compilation, Table 1-1 (dissertation, "Porter_2005" in VPOD); extracted from PDF by VPOD with tabula. github.com/VisualPhysiologyDB/visual-physiology-opsin-db
  2. Longcore T. 2023. A compendium of photopigment peak sensitivities and visual spectral response curves of terrestrial wildlife to guide design of outdoor nighttime lighting. Basic Appl Ecol 73:40-50. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2023.09.002. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8432720
  3. Kirwan J. luxR 0.1.1: Underwater Light Analysis and Visual Ecology (R-universe), data species_sensitivities. github.com/JohnKirwan/luxR
  4. Müller B, Glösmann M, Peichl L, Knop GC, Hagemann C, Ammermüller J (2009) Bat eyes have ultraviolet-sensitive cone photoreceptors. PLoS ONE 4:e6390
  5. Thermal Activation and Photoactivation of Visual Pigments (2004)
  6. AndrewPMeade/FabricTools, sciphy/data_utils/datasets/Arthropod.CompoundEyes.csv (acuity, body length, light, media for 281 arthropods; columns match Feller et al. 2021 Arthropod Struct Dev 60:101002). github.com/AndrewPMeade/FabricTools
  7. Kirk EC, Kay RF 2004. The evolution of high visual acuity in the Anthropoidea. In Anthropoid Origins, Table 1 (behavioural acuity). doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8873-7_20
  8. Veilleux CC, Kirk EC 2014. Visual acuity in mammals. Brain Behav Evol 83:43, Supplementary Table 1 (cleaned CSV in Evo-M1-Trait-Data). doi.org/10.1159/000357830
  9. Bagheri Z, Jessop A, Partridge J et al. 2022. A new computational model illuminates the extraordinary eyes of Phronima. PLOS Computational Biology. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010545
  10. Heesy CP 2004. On the relationship between orbit orientation and binocular visual field overlap in mammals. Anat Rec 281A:1104, Table 1. doi.org/10.1002/ar.a.20116
  11. Heffner RS, Heffner HE 1992. Visual factors in sound localization in mammals. J Comp Neurol 317:219, Table 1 (via Evo-M1 sensory merge). doi.org/10.1002/cne.903170302
  12. species_v1:Campbell & Green 1965
  13. Kopania EEK, Clark NL. 2025. Mammalian retinal specializations for high acuity vision evolve in response to both foraging strategies and morphological constraints. Evolution Letters 9: qrae072. Supplementary Tables S1-S2.. doi.org/10.1093/evlett/qrae072
  14. Anderson SR, Wiens JJ. 2017. Out of the dark: 350 million years of conservatism and evolution in diel activity patterns in vertebrates. Evolution 71:1944-1959. Dryad doi:10.5061/dryad.fg700. doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fg700
  15. Borges R, Johnson WE, O'Brien SJ, Gomes C, Heesy CP, Antunes A (2018) Adaptive genomic evolution of opsins reveals that early mammals flourished in nocturnal environments. BMC Genomics 19:121
  16. Wilman et al. 2014 EltonTraits 1.0, MamFuncDat.txt. doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
  17. Maor R, Dayan T, Ferguson-Gow H, Jones KE. 2017. Temporal niche expansion in mammals from a nocturnal ancestor after dinosaur extinction. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1:1889-1895. Supplementary Table 1. doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0366-5
  18. Jones KE et al. 2009. PanTHERIA: a species-level database of life history, ecology, and geography of extant and recently extinct mammals. Ecology 90:2648. Ecological Archives E090-184. doi.org/10.1890/08-1494.1
  19. Schmitz L, Motani R. 2011. Science 332:705-708, SOM. doi.org/10.1126/science.1200043
  20. Moura et al. 2024. A phylogeny-informed characterisation of global tetrapod traits addresses data gaps and biases. PLoS Biol 22:e3002658. TetrapodTraits v3.0.1.. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22536349
  21. Banks MS, Sprague WW, Schmoll J, Parnell JAQ, Love GD. 2015. Science Advances 1:e1500391. doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500391
  22. Cervino NG et al. 2021. A closer look at pupil diversity and evolution in frogs and toads. Proc R Soc B 288:20211402. doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.15112050.v1
  23. Guareschi BLV, Sallum JMF, Salles MV, de Moraes JGO, Bortolini M, Cray C, Moore BA, da Rosa CC, Montiani-Ferreira F. 2025. GUCY2D-Associated Retinopathy: A Comparative Study Between Humans and German Spitz Dogs. Veterinary sciences 12(9):879. doi.org/10.3390/vetsci12090879
  24. Haarlem CS, Hynes C, Jackson AL, Mitchell KJ, O'Connell RG, Healy K. 2026. Pace of ecology drives the tempo of visual perception across the animal kingdom. Nature Ecology & Evolution (doi:10.1038/s41559-026-02994-7). Figshare dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.30556475. doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30556475
  25. Inger R, Bennie J, Davies TW, Gaston KJ. 2014. Potential biological and ecological effects of flickering artificial light. PLoS ONE 9(5): e98631. Table 3. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098631
  26. Lafitte A, Sordello R, Legrand M, Nicolas V, Obein G, Reyjol Y. 2022. A flashing light may not be that flashy: A systematic review on critical fusion frequencies. PLoS ONE 17(12): e0279718. S10 File (CFF database). doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279718
  27. Healy K, McNally L, Ruxton GD, Cooper N, Jackson AL. 2013. Metabolic rate and body size are linked with perception of temporal information. Animal Behaviour 86:685-696. Table 1. doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.06.018

Every value cites its sources (all sources). Values were extracted from these works and converted (units, medians, derived values); changes are ours, and the listed sources do not endorse this site. Data: catalogue-v1, built 2026-09-29. Accuracy notes: how accurate is this? Method: how we know.