QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online October 18, 2006
Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 4262-4272 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006
doi: 10.1242/jeb.02499

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kleinlogel, S. Articles by Marshall, N. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kleinlogel, S. Articles by Marshall, N. J.

Electrophysiological evidence for linear polarization sensitivity in the compound eyes of the stomatopod crustacean Gonodactylus chiragra

Sonja Kleinlogel^* and N. Justin Marshall

Vision Touch and Hearing Research Centre, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: S.Kleinlogel{at}uq.edu.au)

Accepted 8 August 2006

Gonodactyloid stomatopod crustaceans possess polarization vision, which enables them to discriminate light of different e-vector angle. Their unusual apposition compound eyes are divided by an equatorial band of six rows of enlarged, structurally modified ommatidia, the mid-band (MB). The rhabdoms of the two most ventral MB rows 5 and 6 are structurally designed for polarization vision. Here we show, with electrophysiological recordings, that the photoreceptors R1-R7 within these two MB rows in Gonodactylus chiragra are highly sensitive to linear polarized light of two orthogonal directions (PS=6.1). They possess a narrow spectral sensitivity peaking at 565 nm. Unexpectedly, photoreceptors within the distal rhabdomal tier of MB row 2 also possess highly sensitive linear polarization receptors, which are in their spectral and polarization characteristics similar to the receptors of MB rows 5 and 6. Photoreceptors R1-R7 within the remainder of the MB exhibit low polarization sensitivity (PS=2.3). Outside the MB, in the two hemispheres, R1-R7 possess medium linear polarization sensitivity (PS=3.8) and a broad spectral sensitivity peaking at around 500 nm, typical for most crustaceans. Throughout the retina the most distally situated UV-sensitive R8 cells are not sensitive to linear polarized light.

Key words: underwater polarization vision, photoreceptor, compound eye, retina, e-vector, communication