1.04 - Vision in Fish

https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012370880-9.00397-2Get rights and content

This chapter reviews the current understanding of vision in fish in relation to the complement of visual pigments and photoreceptors in the retina of fish. The emphasis is on the evolution of visual pigments and color vision and how this may relate to visual function. The role of visual pigment gene duplication and gene loss is discussed. The chapter covers all of the major fish groups from primitive jawless lamprey to teleost and lungfish. The adaptive significance of ontogenetic changes and the differential expression of visual pigment opsin genes are discussed in relation to changes in visual function. A model is used to predict the best-fit visual pigments for the simple task of prey detection by fish in different photic environments.

References (0)

Cited by (23)

  • Avian vision

    2022, Sturkie's Avian Physiology
  • Reducing bycatch in gillnets: A sensory ecology perspective

    2015, Global Ecology and Conservation
    Citation Excerpt :

    This probably reflects the absence of light at the short wave end of the spectrum in these turbid and stained habitats. Epipelagic teleosts species (species that live in the illuminated zone at the surface of the sea, down to about 200 m) tend to be trichromatic or they may be dichromatic, lacking sensitivity at the red or violet ends of the spectrum, presumably also reflecting the absence of light at these wavelengths at depth beyond 100 m in their natural waters (Bowmaker and Loew, 2008; Lythgoe, 1979). Presented with this diversity it is clearly not possible to provide many generalisations about the sensitivity of fish in the spectrum, or the presence of colour vision.

  • Near-infrared orientation of Mozambique tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus

    2012, Zoology
    Citation Excerpt :

    Ultraviolet (UV) sensitivity was shown both in freshwater (Bowmaker, 1995) and marine fish (McFarland and Loew, 1994; Siebeck et al., 2010) of different orders such as Cypriniformes (Schiemenz, 1924; Muntz and Northmore, 1970; Hawryshyn and Beauchamp, 1985; Hawryshyn and Harosi, 1991; Risner et al., 2006), Salmoniformes (Bowmaker and Kunz, 1987; Anderson et al., 2010) and Perciformes (Carleton et al., 2000; Hofmann et al., 2010). UV sensitivity may be important for foraging behaviour as an adaptation to planktivory (Bowmaker and Kunz, 1987; McFarland and Loew, 1994; Bowmaker and Loew, 2008; Cronin, 2008), as well as for species discrimination and communication (Partridge and Cuthill, 2010; Siebeck et al., 2010). Moreover, sensing UV radiation may be relevant for orientation and navigation (Hawryshyn and Beauchamp, 1985).

  • A comparative study on the visual adaptations of four species of moray eel

    2011, Vision Research
    Citation Excerpt :

    Rh1 is expressed in the rods and yields vitamin A1-based visual pigments having λmax from 460 to 530 nm (Yokoyama, 1997). The vitamin A1-based visual pigments found in cones formed by the other four expressed opsin genes are a long- to middle-wave class (LWS) maximally sensitive in the red–green spectral region from about 490–570 nm, a middle-wave class (RH2) sensitive in the green from about 480–535 nm, a short-wave class (SWS2) sensitive in the blue–violet from about 410–490 nm and a second short-wave class (SWS1) sensitive in the violet–ultraviolet from about 355–440 nm (Bowmaker, 2008; Bowmaker & Loew, 2008; Bowmaker, Semo, Hunt, & Jeffery, 2008; Ebrey & Koutalos, 2001; Yokoyama, 2000; Yokoyama & Yokoyama, 1996). A number of visual system adaptations allow fish to cope with the constraints imposed by a habitat’s specific photic environment.

View all citing articles on Scopus
View full text