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Photoreceptors and visual pigments in the retina of the fully anadromous green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostrus) and the potamodromous pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus)

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Abstract

Green sturgeon and pallid sturgeon photoreceptors were studied with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), microspectrophotometry and, in the case of the green sturgeon, retinal whole-mounts. The retinas of both species contain both rods and cones: cones comprise between 23% (whole-mount) and 36% (SEM) of the photoreceptors. The cone population of both species is dominated by large single cones, but a rare small single cone is also present. In both species, most rods have long outer segments of large diameter. A rod with a relatively thin outer segment is present in the pallid sturgeon retina. Mean cone packing density for the entire green sturgeon retina is 4,690±891 cones/mm2, with the dorsal retina 14% more dense than the ventral. There is evidence for a horizontal visual streak just above and including the optic disc. Mean rod packing density is 16,006±1,668 rods/mm2 for the entire retina, and fairly uniform throughout. Both species have rods with peak absorbance near 540 nm, as well as short-wavelength-sensitive cones (green: 464.5±0.7 nm; pallid: 439.7±3.5 nm); middle-wavelength-sensitive cones (green: 538.0±1.4 nm; pallid: 537.0±1.7 nm); and long-wavelength-sensitive cones (green: 613.9±3.0 nm; pallid: 617.8±7.6 nm).

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Abbreviations

DIC:

Differential interference contrast

LWS:

Long wavelength sensitivity

MWS:

Middle wavelength sensitivity

SWS:

Short wavelength sensitivity

MEM:

Minimal essential medium

MSP:

Microspectrophotometer

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Steven Asercion for his assistance in producing the figures and Michael Dunlap of the UC Davis Facility for Advanced Instrumentation for his technical assistance with the scanning electron microscope. Peter Allen of the UC Davis Graduate Group in Ecology kindly provided the green sturgeon that were maintained at the Bodega Marine Laboratory. All animals were treated in accordance with the guidelines for care and use of experimental animals as established by the National Institutes of Health and the American Physiological Society. The study was reviewed and approved by the UC Davis Animal Care and Use Committee.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, 1 Shields Ave., Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Arnold J. Sillman, Allicia K. Beach & David A. Dahlin

  2. Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Ellis R. Loew

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  1. Arnold J. Sillman
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  2. Allicia K. Beach
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  3. David A. Dahlin
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  4. Ellis R. Loew
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Correspondence to Arnold J. Sillman.

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Sillman, A.J., Beach, A.K., Dahlin, D.A. et al. Photoreceptors and visual pigments in the retina of the fully anadromous green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostrus) and the potamodromous pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus). J Comp Physiol A 191, 799–811 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-005-0004-6

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