Vision in Fishes

No more than a fish loves water. - Is not this a strange fellow, my lord, that so confidently seems to undertake this business, which he knows is not to be done; damns himself to do, and dares better be damn'd than to dolt? All's Well That Ends Well Act III, Sc. 6 This volume is the direct result of a NATO-Advanced Study Institute of the same title. held at Bishop's University, Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada, August 1974, under the joint sponsor­ ship of the NATO-Scientific Advisory Committee, National Research Council of Canada and the Universite de Montreal. It is not, however, strictly restricted to the lectures and seminars pre­ sented at the ASI. Contributions have been included from two workers who found at a fairly late stage that they could not attend and also included are a table giving the visual pigments and an­ other dealing with the distribution and development of retinomotor responses. I encouraged the authors to prepare speculative reviews highlighting their own research or that of their immediate col­ leagues and a number of them have done so. Several contributors, notably those who were asked to give lectures of a general nature at the ASI have written reviews of somewhat greater scope. The result is a collection of papers representing a great variety of approaches to the study of vision in fishes.

Contenu

1. Photochemistry.- Photochemical Efficiency of Chromoproteins: Role of the Molecular Environment.- Photophysical Processes in Visual Pigments.- Monolayer Studies of Visual Pigments.- Marquage par Spin des Membranes de Bâtonnets.- Microspectrophotometry: The Technique and Some of Its Pitfalls.- Linear Dichroism of Rods and Cones.- 2. Electeophysiology.- Microelectrode Study of the Physiology of Neurons in the Fish Retina.- Structural Studies of Functional Pathways in Goldfish Retina.- A Model for the Ganglionic Receptive Field Organisation.- Giant Retinal Ganglion Cells in Dogfish (Mustelus): Electrophysiology of Single On-Centre Units.- Central Projections of the Retina and Vision.- Réponses Visuelles Unitaires Chez la Truite.- Electrophysiological Analysis of Retino-Tectal Synapses in Teleosts.- Retinotectal Specificity in Adult Goldfish.- Cytoarchitecture and Connexions of the Teleostean Optic Tectum.- Electroretinography as a Tool for Studying Fish Vision.- 3. Neurotransmitters.- Methods of Research for Neurotransmitter Substances: General Introduction.- Methods to Investigate the Function of Certain Amino Acids in the CNS.- The Microiontophoretic Approach.- Methods of Study for Biogenic Amines.- High Resolution Radioautography of Noradrenergic Axon Terminals in the Neocortex.- Chemical Neurotransmission in the Retina of the Teleost Eugerres Plumieri.- The Retina as a Model of the Brain.- 4. Optical and Mechanical Aspects.- The Structure and Phylogeny of Iridescent Corneas in Fishes.- The Iridescent Cornea of the Sand Goby Pomatoschistus minutus (Pallas).- Refractive State, Accommodation, and Resolving Power of the Fish Eye.- Accommodative Mechanisms in Aquatic Vertebrates.- Tapeta Lucida and the Organisation of Visual Cells in Teleosts.- Theoretical Considerations about Tapeta Lucida.- Retinomotor Responses.- Approaches to the Study of Contractility in the Rods and Cones.- Distribution and Development of Retinomotor Responses.- Horizontal Eye Movements in Fish.- 5. Comparative and Developmental Aspects.- Development of the Optic Tectum in Brown Trout.- Genetic Paths Leading to Blindness in Astyanax Mexicanus.- The Eyes of Larval Fish.- Extraretinal Photosensitivity in Fish Larvae.- Retinal Growth in Adult Goldfish.- A Unique Lactate Dehydrogenase Isozyme in the Teleost Retina.- Landolt's Club in Some Primitive Fishes.- Visual Pigments: Phylogeny and Ecology.- Comparative Analysis of the Patterns of Receptor and Horizontal Cells in Teleost Fishes.- Duplex Vision in the Elasmobranchs: Histological, Electrophysiological and Psychophysical Evidence.- 6. Environmental Aspects.- Assessing the Fitness of Visual Pigments for Their Photic Environments.- Visual Pigments and the Environment.- Studies on the Eyes of Fishes: Structure and Ultrastructure.- Retinal Specialisations for Aquatic Vision: Theory and Facts.- Problems of Seeing Colours under water.- Rhodopsin - Porphyropsin Changes in Paired-Pigment Fishes.- Some Problems of Deep-Sea Fish Eyes.- Prospects in the Study of Interrelationships between Vision and Bioluminescence.- The Role of the Pseudobranch and Choroid Rete Mirabile in Fish Vision.- Quantitative Changes of Synaptic Ribbons in the Cone Pedicles of Nannacara: Light Dependent or Governed by a Circadian Rhythm?.- 7. Behavioural Aspects.- Psychophysical Methods for Investigations of Vision in Fishes.- Behavioural Studies of Vision in a Fish and Possible Relationships to the Environment.- Do Fish Have an Absolute Sense of Light Intensity.- Behavioural Studies of the Discrimination of Visual Orientation and Motion by the Goldfish.- A Behavioural Test of Rod-Red Cone Convergence in the Goldfish Retina.- The Area of the Stimulus Eliciting Response as a Factor in Mirror Image Reversal.- 8. Applied Aspects.- Fish Vision and Applied Research.- Ophthalmic Diseases of Fishes.- Contributors and Participants.- Author Index.