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Topographic analysis of the ganglion cell layer in the retina of the four-eyed fish Anableps anableps

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2007

FRANCISCO GILBERTO OLIVEIRA ,
JOÃO PAULO COIMBRA ,
ELIZABETH SUMI YAMADA ,
LUCIANO FOGAÇA DE ASSIS MONTAG ,
FRANCYLLENA L. NASCIMENTO ,
VALÉRIA A. OLIVEIRA ,
DIÓGENES LUÍS DA MOTA ,
ALEXANDRE MOTTA BITTENCOURT ,
VALDIR LUNA DA SILVA  and
BELMIRA LARA DA SILVEIRA ANDRADE DA COSTA
FRANCISCO GILBERTO OLIVEIRA
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciências Biologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Regional do Cariri, URCA, Crato, CE, Brasil
JOÃO PAULO COIMBRA
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Neuropatologia Experimental, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, UFPA, Brasil
ELIZABETH SUMI YAMADA
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Neuropatologia Experimental, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, UFPA, Brasil
LUCIANO FOGAÇA DE ASSIS MONTAG
Affiliation:
Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, UFPE, Recife, PE, Brasil
FRANCYLLENA L. NASCIMENTO
Affiliation:
Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, UFPE, Recife, PE, Brasil
VALÉRIA A. OLIVEIRA
Affiliation:
Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, UFPE, Recife, PE, Brasil
DIÓGENES LUÍS DA MOTA
Affiliation:
Departamento de Histologia e Embriologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, UFPE, Recife, PE, Brasil
ALEXANDRE MOTTA BITTENCOURT
Affiliation:
Departamento de Anatomia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, UFPE, Recife, PE, Brasil
VALDIR LUNA DA SILVA
Affiliation:
Departamento de Fisiologia e Farmacologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, UFPE, Recife, PE, Brasil
BELMIRA LARA DA SILVEIRA ANDRADE DA COSTA
Affiliation:
Departamento de Fisiologia e Farmacologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, UFPE, Recife, PE, Brasil
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Abstract

Fish of the genus Anableps (Anablepidae, Cyprinodontiformes) have eyes that are adapted for simultaneous aerial and aquatic vision. In this study we investigate some of the corresponding retinal specializations of the adult Anableps anableps eye using retinal transverse sections and wholemounts. The linear dimensions of the retina were found to be asymmetric with a greater representation of the dorsal compared to the ventral visual field. The total number of neurons in the ganglion cell layer of the ventral hemiretina was on average 3.6 times greater than the values obtained in the dorsal hemiretina. Isodensity contour maps revealed a prominent horizontal visual streak in the ventral hemiretina with an average peak cell density of 18,286 cells/mm2. A second less-well-developed horizontal visual streak was also observed in the dorsal hemiretina. A sub-population of large cells with soma areas between 74 and 188 μm2 was identified and found to be distributed evenly across both hemiretinas. Together, these results show that the sampling gain of the ventral retina is significantly greater than the dorsal segment, that retinal specializations important for mediating acute vision are present in the parts of the visual field immediately above and below the surface of the water, and that visual functions related with the large ganglion cells require more even sampling across the visual field. The relevance of these retinal specializations to the feeding and other behavioral strategies adopted by Anableps is discussed.

Keywords

Retinal ganglion cellsVisionVisual streakAnableps anableps

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 23 , Issue 6 , November 2006 , pp. 879 - 886
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

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