Advanced optics in a jellyfish eye

Dan-E. Nilsson (), Lars Gislén, Melissa M. Coates, Charlotta Skogh and Anders Garm
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Dan-E. Nilsson: Lund University, Zoology Building
Lars Gislén: Lund University
Melissa M. Coates: Lund University, Zoology Building
Charlotta Skogh: Lund University, Zoology Building
Anders Garm: Lund University, Zoology Building

Nature, 2005, vol. 435, issue 7039, 201-205

Abstract: Missing link? Cubozoans, or box jellyfish, each have twenty-four eyes of four types, but no central brain for information processing. An investigation of these eyes reveals optics as sophisticated as in vertebrates. Despite this, the retina is out of focus and the sharp image is not used to provide acute vision, but as a way of processing visual information. ‘Blurred’ vision may be perfect for avoiding large stationary objects without focusing on small floating objects and plankton. This may also be a pointer to a missing link in the early evolution of animal visual systems, likely to have involved eyes performing a single visual task only. The cover shows the two lens eyes and two pairs of pigment pit eyes in the bizarre sensory club of Chiropsalmus sp., larger but similar to those of Tripedalia cystophora used in the optical study.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03484

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