Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The lens eyes of the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora and Chiropsalmus sp. are slow and color-blind

Garm, Anders LU ; Coates, Melissa LU ; Gad, R ; Seymour, J. and Nilsson, Dan-E LU (2007) In Journal of Comparative Physiology A 193(5). p.547-557
Abstract
Box jellyfish, or cubomedusae, possess an impressive total of 24 eyes of four morphologically different types. Compared to other cnidarians they also have an elaborate behavioral repertoire, which for a large part seems to be visually guided. Two of the four types of cubomedusean eyes, called the upper and the lower lens eye, are camera type eyes with spherical fish-like lenses. Here we explore the electroretinograms of the lens eyes of the Caribbean species, Tripedalia cystophora, and the Australian species, Chiropsalmus sp. using suction electrodes. We show that the photoreceptors of the lens eyes of both species have dynamic ranges of about 3 log units and slow responses. The spectral sensitivity curves for all eyes peak in the... (More)
Box jellyfish, or cubomedusae, possess an impressive total of 24 eyes of four morphologically different types. Compared to other cnidarians they also have an elaborate behavioral repertoire, which for a large part seems to be visually guided. Two of the four types of cubomedusean eyes, called the upper and the lower lens eye, are camera type eyes with spherical fish-like lenses. Here we explore the electroretinograms of the lens eyes of the Caribbean species, Tripedalia cystophora, and the Australian species, Chiropsalmus sp. using suction electrodes. We show that the photoreceptors of the lens eyes of both species have dynamic ranges of about 3 log units and slow responses. The spectral sensitivity curves for all eyes peak in the blue-green region, but the lower lens eye of T. cystophora has a small additional peak in the near UV range. All spectral sensitivity curves agree well with the theoretical absorbance curve of a single opsin, strongly suggesting color-blind vision in box jellyfish with a single receptor type. A single opsin is supported by selective adaptation experiments. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
box jellyfish, spectral sensitivity, response speed, range, dynamic, vision
in
Journal of Comparative Physiology A
volume
193
issue
5
pages
547 - 557
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • wos:000246623100006
  • scopus:34249813711
ISSN
1432-1351
DOI
10.1007/s00359-007-0211-4
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e59b035f-32da-4dcf-8552-965be4343bb5 (old id 659446)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 16:35:16
date last changed
2022-01-28 20:44:54
@article{e59b035f-32da-4dcf-8552-965be4343bb5,
  abstract     = {{Box jellyfish, or cubomedusae, possess an impressive total of 24 eyes of four morphologically different types. Compared to other cnidarians they also have an elaborate behavioral repertoire, which for a large part seems to be visually guided. Two of the four types of cubomedusean eyes, called the upper and the lower lens eye, are camera type eyes with spherical fish-like lenses. Here we explore the electroretinograms of the lens eyes of the Caribbean species, Tripedalia cystophora, and the Australian species, Chiropsalmus sp. using suction electrodes. We show that the photoreceptors of the lens eyes of both species have dynamic ranges of about 3 log units and slow responses. The spectral sensitivity curves for all eyes peak in the blue-green region, but the lower lens eye of T. cystophora has a small additional peak in the near UV range. All spectral sensitivity curves agree well with the theoretical absorbance curve of a single opsin, strongly suggesting color-blind vision in box jellyfish with a single receptor type. A single opsin is supported by selective adaptation experiments.}},
  author       = {{Garm, Anders and Coates, Melissa and Gad, R and Seymour, J. and Nilsson, Dan-E}},
  issn         = {{1432-1351}},
  keywords     = {{box jellyfish; spectral sensitivity; response speed; range; dynamic; vision}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{547--557}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Journal of Comparative Physiology A}},
  title        = {{The lens eyes of the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora and Chiropsalmus sp. are slow and color-blind}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00359-007-0211-4}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s00359-007-0211-4}},
  volume       = {{193}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}