A “Deep Sea Rhodopsin” in a Mammal

Abstract

IN a broad sense the absorbance spectra of the rhodopsins of fishes seem to vary to suit the spectral energy distributions of the lights reaching them through the water^1–6. Thus bathypelagic fishes, living in an environment where the ambient daylight (and the light from bioluminescent organisms) is maximal between 460 and 490 nm⁷, have rhodopsins of λ_max between 472 and 487 nm (refs. 1–5). Similarly, coastal fishes, which live in light environments with peak radiation between 490 and 550 nm⁷, have rhodopsins that range correspondingly in λ_max between 495 and 512 nm (refs. 3–5, 8).