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How animals visually perceive the environment is key to understanding important ecological behaviors, such as predation, foraging, and mating. This study focuses on the visual system properties and visual perception of color in the largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides. This study (1) documents the number and spectral sensitivity of photoreceptors, (2) uses these parameters to model visual perception, and (3) tests the model of color perception using a behavioral assay. Bass possess single cone cells maximally sensitive at 535 nm, twin cone cells maximally sensitive at 614 nm, and rod cells maximally sensitive at 528 nm. A simple model of visual perception predicted that bass should not be able to discern between chartreuse yellow and white nor between green and blue. In contrast, bass should be able to discern red from all achromatic (i.e., gray scale) stimuli. These predictions were partially upheld in behavioral trials. In behavioral trials, bass were first trained to recognize a target color to receive a food reward, and then tested on their ability to differentiate between their target color and a color similar in brightness. Bass trained to red and green could easily discern their training color from all other colors for target colors that were similar in brightness (white and black, respectively). This study shows that bass possess dichromatic vision and do use chromatic (i.e., color) cues in making visual-based decisions.

An understanding of the effect of light on predator‐prey interactions in aquatic systems requires the integration of sensory physiology, behavioral ecology, and spatial distributions of predator and prey in the field. Here, we present such an integrative approach to a study on the interactions between the alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus, and the mysid shrimp, Mysis diluviana, (formerly M. relicta) in Lake Ontario at night, when it is unknown whether visual feeding is possible. Visual pigment analyses of alewife rod photoreceptors were used to derive an alewife‐specific unit of brightness—the ‘alelux’ (wavelength of maximum absorbance, λmax= 505 nm)—which formed the basic unit of light intensity in alewife feeding‐rate experiments and field applications. At light levels of 10−7alelux (~ 10−4.1lux) and greater in the laboratory, alewives engaged in visual search and strike behaviors and fed at rates that were significantly higher than those under completely dark conditions. Field observations from Lake Ontario showed that light levels at the upper edge of the mysid distribution were within the range of those required for visual feeding in the laboratory on a full moon night, but not on a new moon night. These increased light levels translated into feeding rates that were > 30 times higher on the full moon night, despite a larger degree of spatial separation of the two trophic levels. We hypothesize that observed increased water clarity in Lake Ontario in recent years has led to increased consumption of mysids by alewife at night and associated food‐web changes.

The photoreceptors of Boa constrictor, a boid snake of the subfamily Boinae, were examined with scanning electron microscopy and microspectrophotometry. The retina of B. constrictor is duplex but highly dominated by rods, cones comprising 11% of the photoreceptor population. The rather tightly packed rods have relatively long outer segments with proximal ends that are somewhat tapered. There are two morphologically distinct, single cones. The most common cone by far has a large inner segment and a relatively stout outer segment. The second cone, seen only infrequently, has a substantially smaller inner segment and a finer outer segment. The visual pigments of B. constrictor are virtually identical to those of the pythonine boid, Python regius. Three different visual pigments are present, all based on vitamin A1. The visual pigment of the rods has a wavelength of peak absorbance (λmax) at 495 ± 2 nm. The visual pigment of the more common, large cone has a λmax at 549 ± 1 nm. The small, rare cone contains a visual pigment with λmax at 357 ± 2 nm, providing the snake with sensitivity in the ultraviolet. We suggest that B. constrictor might employ UV sensitivity to locate conspecifics and/or to improve hunting efficiency. The data indicate that wavelength discrimination above 430 nm would not be possible without some input from the rods. J. Exp. Zool. 290:359–365, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Spectral sensitivity curves were measured for bluegills using a heart-rate conditioning technique. A mean spectral sensitivity curve (n=3) determined using a white background exhibited two main peaks, indicating the possible presence of two cone photoreceptors mechanisms. Chromatic adaptation was used to separate the contribution of the cone mechanisms to sensitivity. Peak sensitivities were located at 540 and 640 nm against red and blue-green backgrounds, respectively.

Maximal visual sensitivity of most vertebrates and invertebrates coincides with the dominant wave-induced flicker frequencies associated with underwater light. Waves also produce patterns off reflective objects that resemble many of the body markings found on fishes. The close relationship that exists between the physiological properties of spatial and temporal vision thus suggests an ancient adaptation to the wave-induced fluctuations and spatial patterns associated with underwater light.