Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY OF FISHES
Volume 85, Issue 1, Pages 33-38Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s10641-009-9453-z
Keywords
Mola mola; Ocean sunfish; Retinal ganglion cell; Visual acuity; Main visual axis; Visual field; Retina
Categories
Funding
- Tokai Art and Science Foundation
- JSPS [17570077]
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [17570077] Funding Source: KAKEN
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, is the largest known bony fish. Based on prior studies of diet composition, it is considered to be a pelagic zooplanktivore. However, a recent study using acoustic telemetry revealed that they repeatedly dive to depths of > 50 m during the day. We examined the distribution of cells within the retinal ganglion cell layer in the immature ocean sunfish (c.a. 50 cm total length) and estimated their visual acuity with respect to the main visual axis and visual fields. Visual acuity was between 3.37 and 4.41 cycles/degree. The region of highest cell density was located in the dorso-temporal retina, indicating that the main visual axis of ocean sunfish is directed towards the lower frontal portion of the visual field. This axis is considered beneficial for detecting prey items when the sunfish are migrating vertically through the water column, and in foraging behavior near the sea bottom.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available