Fig. 5. Structure of the toadfish cornea. (A) Schematic diagram showing the thickness of the different layers in the central cornea. ASS, anterior scleral stroma; BM, base membrane; D, Desçemet's membrane; DS, dermal stroma; EN, endothelium; EP, epithelium; IR, iridescent layer; ML, mucoid layer; PL, pigment layer; PSS, posterior scleral stroma. Insets indicate which areas of the cornea are enlarged in B. Scale bar, 5 µm. (B) Electron micrographs showing a transverse section of (i) the epidermis (EP), base membrane (BM) and dermal stroma (DS); arrow, microprojections, N, nucleus; (ii,iii) the different structures of the iridescent layer (IR) comprising a series of aligned endoplasmic reticula in T. hamiltoni (ii) and T. pleurogramma (iii), and (iv) the posterior scleral stroma (PSS), a monolayer of cells (M), Desçemet's membrane (D) and endothelium (EN). Scale bar, 2 µm.

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