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Encyclopedia of Neuroscience pp 1459–1466Cite as

Evolution of the Visual System in Fishes

Synonyms

Fishes; Visual systems

Definition

The evolution of the visual system can be defined as the series of changes in the structure and function of the eye and visual input to the brain that has occurred as a result of selection pressures over a relatively long time period. The visual system of fishes comprises the optical apparatus (cornea, iris and lens), the neural retina (converting an optical image into an electrical image) and the optic nerve (conveying visual information to the brain). Primitive fishes are either jawless (Agnatha) or jawed (Elasmobranchii and Osteichthyes) and are remarkably diverse, occupying a large range of aquatic environments.

Characteristics

The extant jawless fishes (hagfishes and lampreys) represent the earliest stage in vertebrate evolution. Lamprey-like animals are represented in fossil deposits dating back approximately 540 million years. The jawed fishes (cartilaginous and bony) evolved approximately 400 million years ago and occupy a diverse...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sensory Neurobiology Group, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Shaun P. Collin

Authors
  1. Shaun P. Collin
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology & Biophysics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA

    Marc D. Binder

  2. Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Graduate School of Medicine University of Tokyo Hongo, Bunkyo‐ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Nobutaka Hirokawa

  3. Göttingen, Germany

    Uwe Windhorst

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© 2009 Springer-Verlag GmbH Berlin Heidelberg

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Collin, S.P. (2009). Evolution of the Visual System in Fishes. In: Binder, M.D., Hirokawa, N., Windhorst, U. (eds) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_3178

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