spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif Online submission spacer gif
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online September 19, 2006
Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 3758-3765 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006
doi: 10.1242/jeb.02431
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplementary Material
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Coates, M. M.
Right arrow Articles by Nilsson, D.-E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Coates, M. M.
Right arrow Articles by Nilsson, D.-E.

The spectral sensitivity of the lens eyes of a box jellyfish, Tripedalia cystophora (Conant)

Melissa M. Coates1,*, Anders Garm2, Jamie C. Theobald2, Stuart H. Thompson1 and Dan-Eric Nilsson2

1 Hopkins Marine Station, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Oceanview Boulevard, Pacific Grove, California, 93950, USA
2 Department of Cell and Organism Biology, Lund University, Zoology Building, Helgonavägen 3, S-223 62 Lund, Sweden

* Author for correspondence at present address: Department of Cell and Organism Biology, Lund University, Zoology Building, Helgonavägen 3, S-223 62 Lund, Sweden (e-mail: Melissa.Coates{at}cob.lu.se)

Accepted 5 July 2006

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.

Key words: vision, eye, electrophysiology, electroretinogram (ERG), photoreceptor, opsins, spectral sensitivity, invertebrate, Cnidaria, Cubozoa




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
J. Exp. Biol.Home page
A. Garm, M. O'Connor, L. Parkefelt, and D.-E. Nilsson
Visually guided obstacle avoidance in the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora and Chiropsella bronzie
J. Exp. Biol., October 15, 2007; 210(20): 3616 - 3623.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2006