Figure 3. Unstained cryosection of a Malacosteus niger retina with associated spectral absorption scans from different layers.

Each curve is an average of scans from 5 different retinal locations at eight different levels in each retina. All scans have been zeroed at 800 nm. The shape of these absorption spectra has characteristics of a chlorophyll-like pigment with absorption peaks close to those observed in extracts of BChl (see Supplementary Fig. S4). The area between the brownish melanin-rich scleral region of the RPE and the RIS/ROS appears bright red and corresponds to the astaxanthin-containing tapetal spheres of the vitreal RPE. Some tapetal spheres have become dislocated to the RIS/ROS layer during cryosectioning. All labels as in Fig. 1.