Summary
The retinal projections inEsox niger, as determined with the aid of a modified cobalt-lysine method, are considerably more extensive in the diencephalon and pretectum than in other teleost fishes so far examined. Although most retinal axons terminate contralaterally, rare fibers can be traced to the same aggregates ipsilaterally. The retinohypothalamic projection appears larger than hitherto reported in teleosts, and the dorsomedial optic tract issues fibers to a series of cell clusters extending from the rostral thalamus to mid-torus levels. A retinal projection to a presumed ventrolateral optic nucleus (VLO) is described for the first time in a teleost. Other targets of retinal fibers include the nucleus geniculatus lateralis ipse of Meader (GLI), the pretectal nucleus (P), the cortical nucleus and a well-developed ventromedial optic nucleus (VMO). The projection to the optic tectum is principally to the stratum fibrosum et griseum superficiale (SFGS) and stratum marginale (SM), but a considerable number of axons also course through the stratum album centrale (SAC) before terminating there or piercing the stratum griseum centrale (SGC) and terminating in SFGS. Rare terminal arborizations of retinal fibers were also observed in stratum griseum centrale (SGS) and in the stratum griseum periventriculare (SGC) in restricted portions of the tectum. Because of the relatively large size of the visual structures inE. niger it is a potentially useful model for future experimental studies on the visual system.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bazer GT, Ebbesson SOE (1984a) A cobalt lysine study of the retinal projections in the chain pickerel (Esox niger). Soc of Neurose Abst 10:854
Bazer GT, Ebbesson SOE (1984b) A simplified cobalt-lysine method for tracing axon trajectories in the central nervous system of vertebrates. Neurosci Lett 51:315–318
Campbell CBG, Ebbesson SOE (1969) The optic system of a teleost:Holocentrus reexamined. Brain Behav Evol 2:415–430
Davis MT (1982) Improved methods for cobalt filling and silver intensification of insect motor neurons. Stain Technol 57:239–244
Ebbesson SOE (1968) Retinal projection in two teleost fishes (Opsanus tau andGymnothorax funebris). An experimental study with silver impregnation methods. Brain Behav Evol 1:134–154
Ebbesson SOE (1970) On the organization of central visual pathways in vertebrates. Brain Behav Evol 3:178–194
Ebbesson SOE (1972) A proposal for a common nomenclature for some optic nuclei in vertebrates and evidence for a common origin of two such cell groups. Brain Behav Evol 6:75–91
Ebbesson SOE (1980a) A visual thalamo-telencephalic pathway in a teleost fishHolocentrus rufus. Cell Tissue Res 213:505–508
Ebbesson SOE (1980b) The parcellation theory and its relation to interspecific variability in brain organization, evolutionary and ontogenetic development and neuronal plasticity. Cell Tissue Res 213:179–212
Ebbesson SOE (1984) Evolution and ontogeny of neural circuits. Behav Brain Sci 7:321–366
Ito H, Morita Y, Sakamoto N, Ueda S (1980) Possibility of telencephalic visual projection in teleosts, Holocentridae. Brain Res 197:219–222
Lauder GV, Liem KF (1983) Patterns of diversity and evolution in ray-finned fishes. In: Northcutt RG, Davies RE (eds) Fish neurobiology. Volume I: Brain stem and sense organs. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, pp 1–24
Lazar G (1978) Application of cobalt-filling technique to show retinal projections in the frog. Neuroscience 3:725–736
Meader RG (1934) The optic system of the teleost,Holocentrus. I. The primary optic pathways and the corpus geniculatum complex. J Comp Neurol 60:361–407
Northcutt RG (1982) Localization of neurons afferent to the optic tectum in longnose gars. J Comp Neurol 204:325–335
Northcutt RG, Braford MR (1984) Some efferent connections of the superficial pretectum in godfish. Brain Res 296:181–184
Northcutt RG, Butler AB (1976) Retinofugal pathways in the longnose garLepisosteus osseus (Linnaeus). J Comp Neurol 166:1–16
Northcutt RG, Butler AB (1980) Projections of the optic tectum in the longnose gar,Lepisosteus osseus. Brain Res 190:333–346
Sakamato N, Ito H (1982) Fiber connections of the corpus glomerulosum in a teleost,Navadon modestus. J Comp Neurol 205:291–298
Schnitzlein HN (1962) The habenula and dorsal thalamus of some teleosts. J Comp Neurol 118:225–267
Schweitzer J, Lowe D (1984) Mesencephalic and diencephalic cobalt-lysine injections in an elasmobranch: evidence for two parallel electrosensory pathways. Neurose Lett 44:317–322
Springer AD, Prokosch JH (1982) Surgical and intensification procedures for defining visual pathways with cobaltous lysine. J Histochem Cytochem 30:1235–1242
Vanegas H, Ebbesson SOE (1973) Retinal projections in the perchlike teleostEuguerres pulmieri. J Comp Neurol 151:331–358
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bazer, G.T., Ebbesson, S.O.E. Retinal projections in the chain pickerel (Esox niger Lesueur). Cell Tissue Res. 248, 227–229 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01239985
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01239985