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Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences logoLink to Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
. 2000 Sep 29;355(1401):1151–1154. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2000.0657

Vision in hydrothermal vent shrimp.

S C Chamberlain 1
PMCID: PMC1692852  PMID: 11079388

Abstract

Bresiliid shrimp from hydrothermal vents on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge have non-imaging eyes adapted for photodetection in light environments of very low intensity. Comparison of retinal structures between both vent shrimp and surface-dwelling shrimp with imaging eyes, and between juvenile and adult vent shrimp, suggests that vent shrimp have evolved from ancestors that lived in a light environment with bright cyclic lighting. Whether the vent shrimp live in swarms and have large dorsal eyes or live in sparse groupings and have large anterior eyes, the basic retinal adaptations are the same across species. Retinal adaptations in adult vent shrimp include the loss of dioptrics, enlargement of both the rhabdomeral segment of the photoreceptors and the light-sensitive rhabdomere therein, attenuation of the arhabdomeral segment of the photoreceptors, reduction of black screening pigment, development of a white diffusing layer behind the photoreceptors, and the loss of rhabdom turnover.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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