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Visual pigments of marine carnivores: pinnipeds, polar bear, and sea otter

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Abstract

Rod and cone visual pigments of 11 marine carnivores were evaluated. Rod, middle/long-wavelength sensitive (M/L) cone, and short-wavelength sensitive (S) cone opsin (if present) sequences were obtained from retinal mRNA. Spectral sensitivity was inferred through evaluation of known spectral tuning residues. The rod pigments of all but one of the pinnipeds were similar to those of the sea otter, polar bear, and most other terrestrial carnivores with spectral peak sensitivities (λmax) of 499 or 501 nm. Similarly, the M/L cone pigments of the pinnipeds, polar bear, and otter had inferred λmax of 545 to 560 nm. Only the rod opsin sequence of the elephant seal had sensitivity characteristic of adaptation for vision in the marine environment, with an inferred λmax of 487 nm. No evidence of S cones was found for any of the pinnipeds. The polar bear and otter had S cones with inferred λmax of ∼440 nm. Flicker-photometric ERG was additionally used to examine the in situ sensitivities of three species of pinniped. Despite the use of conditions previously shown to evoke cone responses in other mammals, no cone responses could be elicited from any of these pinnipeds. Rod photoreceptor responses for all three species were as predicted by the genetic data.

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Acknowledgments

Our principal thanks go to the marine mammal stranding program of SeaWorld, San Diego, CA for providing rehabilitated animals for electroretinographic (ERG) examination, as well as tissue samples from several species for genetic study. Representatives of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Fairbanks, AK), Alaska Department of Fish and Game (Anchorage, AK), California Department of Fish and Game (Santa Cruz, CA), and Dr. Siniff’s Antarctic research group (McMurdo station, Antarctica) also provided valuable samples for genetic examination. We appreciate the valuable input of the dissertation committee members of DHL who reviewed earlier versions of this manuscript. We thank the graduate student support for DHL provided by the NSF Office of Polar Programs (NSF 98-14794). Financial support for this project provided by the San Diego Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) program to DHL, NSF (IBN 00-78540) and the UCSD Chancellors Fund grants to PJP, and an NIH grant (EY002052) to GHJ. All animal husbandry and experimental procedures were conducted following protocols approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Office of Protected Resources (permit 732–1487), the University of California, San Diego Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC; permit S00092), and the NIH Principles of animal care, publication No. 86-23 (1985).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, La Jolla, CA, USA

    David H. Levenson & Paul J. Ponganis

  2. Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NMFS, La Jolla, CA, USA

    David H. Levenson & Andy Dizon

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

    Michael A. Crognale

  4. Department of Psychology, California State University, Bakersfield, CA, USA

    Jess F. Deegan II

  5. Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Gerald H. Jacobs

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  1. David H. Levenson
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  2. Paul J. Ponganis
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  3. Michael A. Crognale
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  4. Jess F. Deegan II
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  5. Andy Dizon
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  6. Gerald H. Jacobs
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Correspondence to David H. Levenson.

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Levenson, D.H., Ponganis, P.J., Crognale, M.A. et al. Visual pigments of marine carnivores: pinnipeds, polar bear, and sea otter. J Comp Physiol A 192, 833–843 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-006-0121-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-006-0121-x

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