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Abstract
The visual sense of elasmobranch fishes is poorly studied compared to their bony cousins, the teleosts. Nevertheless, the elasmobranch eye features numerous specialisations that have no doubt facilitated the diversification and evolutionary success of this fascinating taxon. In this review, I highlight recent discoveries on the nature and phylogenetic distribution of visual pigments in sharks and rays. Whereas most rays appear to be cone dichromats, all sharks studied to date are cone monochromats and, as a group, have likely abandoned colour vision on multiple occasions. This situation in sharks mirrors that seen in other large marine predators, the pinnipeds and cetaceans, which leads us to reassess the costs and benefits of multiple cone pigments and wavelength discrimination in the marine environment.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 12-19 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology |
Volume | 106 |
Early online date | 22 Apr 2020 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2020 |
Keywords
- Visual pigment
- Elasmobranch
- Photoreceptors
- Retina
- Visual ecology
- Chondrichthyes
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Dive into the research topics of 'Vision in sharks and rays: opsin diversity and colour vision'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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Bio-inspired camouflage to prevent shark attacks on surfers
Hart, N., Collin, S. P., Huveneers, C., Gennari, E., Slip, D. & Peddemors, V.
27/03/17 → 31/12/20
Project: Research