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The Ecology of Teleost Fish Visual Pigments: a Good Example of Sensory Adaptation to the Environment?

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Ecology of Sensing

Abstract

The aquatic environment offers a natural laboratory for the study of visual ecology. The colour of natural bodies of water varies from the brown/reds of some freshwater lakes, through the greens of lakes and coastal waters, to the blues of the deep oceans. Teleosts have adapted the visual pigments of their rods and cones to take advantage of these different photic environments. Many shallow-living fish are probably tetrachromatic, with sensitivity extending from the near UV to the far-red and utilize the full broad daylight spectrum. Teleosts living in more green waters tend to be blue/green dichromats, having lost sensitivity to the longer and shorter wavelengths. In contrast, deep-sea teleosts generally have pure rod retinae, maximally sensitive to the dim downwelling monochromatic blue light of the ocean. In addition, their rod pigments may be spectrally tuned to be sensitive to their own bioluminescence, which in some cases may be deep red. Many fish probably modify their visual pigment complement, either during development or seasonally, as they change factors such as their feeding habits, geographical location, depth of habitat and photic environment.

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  1. Applied Vision Research Centre, Dept. Optometry and Visual Science, City University, 311-321, Goswell Road, London, ECIV 7DD, UK

    Ron H. Douglas

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  1. Ron H. Douglas
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  1. Biocenter, Institute for Zoology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Friedrich G. Barth  & Axel Schmid  & 

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Douglas, R.H. (2001). The Ecology of Teleost Fish Visual Pigments: a Good Example of Sensory Adaptation to the Environment?. In: Barth, F.G., Schmid, A. (eds) Ecology of Sensing. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-22644-5_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-22644-5_11

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