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Colour vision and visual ecology of the blue-spotted maskray, Dasyatis kuhlii Müller & Henle, 1814

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Abstract

Relatively little is known about the physical structure and ecological adaptations of elasmobranch sensory systems. In particular, elasmobranch vision has been poorly studied compared to the other senses. Virtually nothing is known about whether elasmobranchs possess multiple cone types, and therefore the potential for colour vision, or how the spectral tuning of their visual pigments is adapted to their different lifestyles. In this study, we measured the spectral absorption of the rod and cone visual pigments of the blue-spotted maskray, Dasyatis kuhlii, using microspectrophotometry. D. kuhlii possesses a rod visual pigment with a wavelength of maximum absorbance (λmax) at 497 nm and three spectrally distinct cone types with λmax values at 476, 498 and 552 nm. Measurements of the spectral transmittance of the ocular media reveal that wavelengths below 380 nm do not reach the retina, indicating that D. kuhlii is relatively insensitive to ultraviolet radiation. Topographic analysis of retinal ganglion cell distribution reveals an area of increased neuronal density in the dorsal retina. Based on peak cell densities and using measurements of lens focal length made using laser ray tracing and sections of frozen eyes, the estimated spatial resolving power of D. kuhlii is 4.10 cycles per degree.

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Abbreviations

DW:

Disc width

IR:

Infra-red

LED:

Light emitting diode

MS222:

Tricaine methanesulphonate salt

OLM:

Outer limiting membrane

T 0.5 :

Wavelength at 0.5 normalized transmittance

UV:

Ultraviolet

λ max :

Wavelength of maximum absorbance

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to first thank two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on improving the manuscript. The authors would also like to thank Mike Bennett, Simon Pierce, Scott Cutmore, Peter Kyne, Joanna Stead, Tina Chua, Justin Marshall and the staff of the University of Queensland Moreton Bay Research Station. This work was funded by ARC Discovery Grants DP0558681 and DP0558844, NHMRC Project Grant 179837, the American Elasmobranch Society (Donald R. Nelson Behaviour Research Award), and Sigma Xi.

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

    Susan M. Theiss, Thomas J. Lisney, Shaun P. Collin & Nathan S. Hart

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  1. Susan M. Theiss
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Correspondence to Susan M. Theiss.

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Theiss, S.M., Lisney, T.J., Collin, S.P. et al. Colour vision and visual ecology of the blue-spotted maskray, Dasyatis kuhlii Müller & Henle, 1814. J Comp Physiol A 193, 67–79 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-006-0171-0

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