RUB » Bibliotheksportal

Melanie Danelle Mark, Marcel Donner, Dennis Eickelbeck, Jennifer Stepien, Minou Nowrousian, Ulrich Kück, Frank Paris, Jens Hellinger, Stefan Herlitze

• Bioluminescence is a fascinating phenomenon and can be found in many different organisms including fish. It has been suggested that bioluminescence is used for example for defense, prey attraction, and for intraspecific communication to attract for example sexual partners. The flashlight fish, \(\textit {Anomalops katoptron}\) (\(\textit A. katoptron\)), is a nocturnal fish that produces bioluminescence and lives in shallow waters, which makes it ideal for laboratory studies. In order to understand \(\textit A. katoptron\)’s ability to detect bioluminescent light (480 to 490 nm) at night, we characterized the visual system adaptation of \(\textit A. katoptron\) using phylogenetic, electrophysiological and behavioral studies. We found that the retinae of \(\textit A. katoptron\) contain rods and sparse cones. \(\textit A. katoptron\) retinae express two main visual pigments, rhodopsin (RH1), and to a lesser extent, rhodopsin-like opsin (RH2). Interestingly, recombinant RH1 and RH2 are maximally sensitive to a wavelength of approximately 490 nm light (\(\lambda_{max}\)), which correspond to the spectral peak of in vivo electroretinogram (ERG) measurements. In addition, behavioral assays revealed that \(\textit A. katoptron\) is attracted by low intensity blue but not red light. Collectively, our results suggest that the \(\textit A. katoptron\) visual system is optimized to detect blue light in the frequency range of its own bioluminescence and residual starlight.