The spectral sensitivity of the lens eyes of a box jellyfish, Tripedalia cystophora (Conant)
Författare
Summary, in English
Box jellyfish, or cubomedusae (class Cubozoa), are unique among the Cnidaria in possessing lens eyes similar in morphology to those of vertebrates and cephalopods. Although these eyes were described over 100 years ago, there has been no work done on their electrophysiological responses to light. We used an electroretinogram ( ERG) technique to measure spectral sensitivity of the lens eyes of the Caribbean species Tripedalia cystophora. The cubomedusae have two kinds of lens eyes, the lower and upper lens eyes. We found that both lens eye types have similar spectral sensitivities, which likely result from the presence of a single receptor type containing a single opsin. The peak sensitivity is to blue-green light. Visual pigment template fits indicate a vitamin A-1 based opsin with peak sensitivity near 500 nm for both eye types.
Publiceringsår
2006
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
3758-3765
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Journal of Experimental Biology
Volym
209
Issue
19
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
The Company of Biologists Ltd
Ämne
- Zoology
Nyckelord
- vision
- electrophysiology
- electroretinogram (ERG)
- photoreceptor
- spectral sensitivity
- opsins
- eye
- Cubozoa
- Cnidaria
- invertebrate
Status
Published
Forskningsgrupp
- Lund Vision Group
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1477-9145