Summary
The electron microscopic structure of the visual cells and retinal tapetum of the foveate deep-sea teleostScopelosaurus lepidus is described. The retina ofS. lepidus contains two spatially separate classes of visual cells, viz. cones, mostly twin cones, in the temporal (caudal) region subserving binocular vision in the rostral direction, and rods grouped in bundles in the rest of the retina. A deep convexiclivate pure-cone fovea is located in the temporal part of the retina.
The outer segments of each pair of twin cones and of the rod bundles are located in reflecting pits formed by the processes of the retinal pigment epithelium which contains reflecting crystals believed to be of guanine. Each pit contains concentric layers of radially orientated elongated crystals in the wall surrounding the photoreceptor outer segments. Furthermore, in the temporal pure-cone region the pigment cells possess discrete cylindrical piles of tangentially orientated crystals, so-called reflectors, apposed to the tips of each pair of twin cone outer segments.
Comparisons are made with the retinae of other deep-sea teleosts. The centre of the pure-cone fovea ofS. lepidus is thought to have a fairly high resolving power and a correspondingly low threshold for minimal angular displacement which will increase the possibility of maintaining foveal fixation of the relatively small prey animals during approach.
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Munk, O. The visual cells and retinal tapetum of the foveate deep-sea fishScopelosaurus lepidus (Teleostei). Zoomorphologie 87, 21–49 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02568740
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02568740