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Aquatic Adaptations in Fish Eyes

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Sensory Biology of Aquatic Animals

Abstract

Of all the sense organs, eyes have probably attracted the most attention because of both their central importance and intricate construction. Darwin knew that such “organs of extreme perfection and complication” posed a crucial test of his theory because they seemed too good to have been shaped by natural selection (Darwin [1859] 1958). Since eyes must obey the optical laws of physics, fundamental physical constraints on their structure provide an important analytical basis for understanding adaptive ocular specializations. In light of these physical constraints, inferences about the selective forces that have shaped eye design can be made with some confidence, particularly in the study of aquatic eyes.

To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.

(Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, 1859, p. 168)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403, USA

    Russell D. Fernald

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  1. Russell D. Fernald
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Biological Laboratory, Boston University Marine Program, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543, USA

    Jelle Atema

  2. Parmly Hearing Institute, Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois, 60626, USA

    Richard R. Fay

  3. Department of Zoology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Arthur N. Popper

  4. Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, Florida, 33577, USA

    William N. Tavolga

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Fernald, R.D. (1988). Aquatic Adaptations in Fish Eyes. In: Atema, J., Fay, R.R., Popper, A.N., Tavolga, W.N. (eds) Sensory Biology of Aquatic Animals. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3714-3_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3714-3_18

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