I am broadly interested in the interactions between light and animals in the marine environment, in particular what the colouration patterns and displays such as cryptic body patterns, sexual signalling, and threat responses of marine animals can tell us about vision and visual perception. Most of my research has been with cephalopods as they offer a unique opportunity to explore these areas because, in simple terms, they tell us what they can see in the body patterns they produce. Through my work on cephalopod behaviour I have investigated the visual behaviour of shallow benthic species and mesopelagic species alike. I utilise novel imaging techniques to record and analyse my data, and draw inspiration for my research from psychology, physics and machine vision.

409 Westbury Mount

School of Ocean Sciences

Bangor University

Menai Bridge

LL59 5AB

 +44 (0)1248  382393

• PhD: Visual ecology and camouflage design in the shallow marine environment
  University of Sussex, 2009
• MSc: Historical biogeography of anchialine cave faunal suites
  Imperial College London, 2005

I teach on a wide range of biological modules in the School of Ocean Sciences.

I am willing to supervise a PhD

2021

• PublishedVisual perception and camouflage response to 3-D backgrounds and cast shadows in the European cuttlefish Sepia officinalis
  Nagar, A. E., Osorio, D., Zylinski, S. & Sait, S. M., 10 Jun 2021, In: Journal of Experimental Biology. 224, 11
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2016

• PublishedCuttlefish see shape from shading, fine-tuning coloration in response to pictorial depth cues and directional illumination
  Zylinski, S., Osorio, D. & Johnsen, S., 16 Mar 2016, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 283, 1826, 20160062.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2015

• PublishedFun and play in invertebrates
  Zylinski, S., 5 Jan 2015, In: Current Biology. 25, 1, p. R10-2
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

2014

• PublishedA new genus of speleophriid copepod (Copepoda Misophrioida) from a cenote in the Yucatan, Mexico with a phylogenetic analysis at the species level
  Boxshall, G. A., Zylinski, S., Jaume, D., Iliffe, T. M. & Suárez-Morales, E., 23 Jun 2014, In: Zootaxa. 3821, 3, p. 321-36 16 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2013

• PublishedVisual contrast and color in rapid learning of novel patterns by chicks
  Zylinski, S. & Osorio, D., 15 Nov 2013, In: Journal of Experimental Biology. 216, Part 22, p. 4184-9 6 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2012

• PublishedVisual interpolation for contour completion by the European cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) and its use in dynamic camouflage
  Zylinski, S., Darmaillacq, A-S. & Shashar, N., 22 Jun 2012, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 279, 1737, p. 2386-90 5 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2011

• PublishedMesopelagic cephalopods switch between transparency and pigmentation to optimize camouflage in the deep
  Zylinski, S. & Johnsen, S., 22 Nov 2011, In: Current Biology. 21, 22, p. 1937-41 5 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedTo be seen or to hide: visual characteristics of body patterns for camouflage and communication in the Australian giant cuttlefish Sepia apama
  Zylinski, S., How, M. J., Osorio, D., Hanlon, R. T. & Marshall, N. J., May 2011, In: American Naturalist. 177, 5, p. 681-90 10 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2009

• PublishedCuttlefish camouflage: context-dependent body pattern use during motion
  Zylinski, S., Osorio, D. & Shohet, A. J., 19 Aug 2009, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 276, 1675, p. 3963-9 7 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedEdge detection and texture classification by cuttlefish
  Zylinski, S., Osorio, D. & Shohet, A. J., 14 Dec 2009, In: Journal of Vision. 9, 13, p. 13.1-10
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedPerception of edges and visual texture in the camouflage of the common cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis
  Zylinski, S., Osorio, D. & Shohet, A., 2009, In: Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 364, 1516, p. 439-448
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review