The mirror-based eyes of scallops demonstrate a light-evoked pupillary response
(2019) In Current Biology 29(9). p.313-314- Abstract
Light levels in terrestrial and shallow-water environments can vary by ten orders of magnitude between clear days and overcast nights. Light-evoked pupillary responses help the eyes of animals perform optimally under these variable light conditions by balancing trade-offs between sensitivity and resolution [1]. Here, we document that the mirror-based eyes of the bay scallop Argopecten irradians and the sea scallop Placopecten magellanicus have pupils that constrict to ∼60% of their fully dilated areas within several minutes of light exposure. The eyes of scallops contain two separate retinas and our ray-tracing model indicates that, compared to eyes with fully constricted pupils, eyes from A. irradians with fully dilated pupils provide... (More)
Light levels in terrestrial and shallow-water environments can vary by ten orders of magnitude between clear days and overcast nights. Light-evoked pupillary responses help the eyes of animals perform optimally under these variable light conditions by balancing trade-offs between sensitivity and resolution [1]. Here, we document that the mirror-based eyes of the bay scallop Argopecten irradians and the sea scallop Placopecten magellanicus have pupils that constrict to ∼60% of their fully dilated areas within several minutes of light exposure. The eyes of scallops contain two separate retinas and our ray-tracing model indicates that, compared to eyes with fully constricted pupils, eyes from A. irradians with fully dilated pupils provide approximately three times the sensitivity and half the spatial resolution at the distal retina and five times the sensitivity and one third the spatial resolution at the proximal retina. We also identify radial and circular actin fibers associated with the corneas of A. irradians that may represent muscles whose contractions dilate and constrict the pupil, respectively. Miller et al. report that the mirror-based eyes of two species of scallop have pupils that constrict to ∼60% of their fully dilated areas within several minutes of being exposed to light. At the cost of sensitivity, narrower pupils improve spatial resolution in the eyes of scallops by decreasing the influence of optical aberrations.
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- author
- Miller, Hayley V. ; Kingston, Alexandra C.N. ; Gagnon, Yakir L. LU and Speiser, Daniel I.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2019
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Current Biology
- volume
- 29
- issue
- 9
- pages
- 313 - 314
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:31063719
- scopus:85064856746
- ISSN
- 0960-9822
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.cub.2019.03.053
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 394f4c13-ed3d-4051-b182-49a11b5914c2
- date added to LUP
- 2019-05-08 11:54:58
- date last changed
- 2024-04-30 06:31:50
@article{394f4c13-ed3d-4051-b182-49a11b5914c2,
abstract = {{<p>Light levels in terrestrial and shallow-water environments can vary by ten orders of magnitude between clear days and overcast nights. Light-evoked pupillary responses help the eyes of animals perform optimally under these variable light conditions by balancing trade-offs between sensitivity and resolution [1]. Here, we document that the mirror-based eyes of the bay scallop Argopecten irradians and the sea scallop Placopecten magellanicus have pupils that constrict to ∼60% of their fully dilated areas within several minutes of light exposure. The eyes of scallops contain two separate retinas and our ray-tracing model indicates that, compared to eyes with fully constricted pupils, eyes from A. irradians with fully dilated pupils provide approximately three times the sensitivity and half the spatial resolution at the distal retina and five times the sensitivity and one third the spatial resolution at the proximal retina. We also identify radial and circular actin fibers associated with the corneas of A. irradians that may represent muscles whose contractions dilate and constrict the pupil, respectively. Miller et al. report that the mirror-based eyes of two species of scallop have pupils that constrict to ∼60% of their fully dilated areas within several minutes of being exposed to light. At the cost of sensitivity, narrower pupils improve spatial resolution in the eyes of scallops by decreasing the influence of optical aberrations.</p>}},
author = {{Miller, Hayley V. and Kingston, Alexandra C.N. and Gagnon, Yakir L. and Speiser, Daniel I.}},
issn = {{0960-9822}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{9}},
pages = {{313--314}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Current Biology}},
title = {{The mirror-based eyes of scallops demonstrate a light-evoked pupillary response}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.03.053}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.cub.2019.03.053}},
volume = {{29}},
year = {{2019}},
}