Abstract
The current investigation represents the morphological description of the adaptation of gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata to its environmental conditions. For the achievement of this study twelve mature fishes were used for gross, light and electron microscope examinations. The cornea is consists of three layers; an anterior stratified cuboidal epithelium, bowman layer, and a dermal stroma. A mucoid layer located between the dermal stroma and the anterior part of the scleral cornea, while the iridescent layer located between the anterior and the posterior scleral stroma. The retina is composed of ten layers. There are two areas of the retina; non-nervous and nervous. The non-nervous area is represented only by the thick pigmented epithelium layer. The retina has both rod and cone photoreceptors. The cones are differentiated into three types; single, double and triple cones. Rods inner segments contain numerous mitochondria while that of the cones has ellipsosomes. These ellipsosomes may function in condensing light in the outer segment. There is a clear correlation between ellipsosomes formation in the inner segment of cone and night condition.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abecasis D et al (2008) Ageing seabreams: a comparative study between scales and otoliths. Fish Res 89:37–48
Ali M (1975) Retinomotor responses. In: Vision in fishes. Springer, New York, pp 313–355
Arnolld GK (1977) Chordate structure and function, second edn. MacMillan Publishing Co., NewYork
Atta K (2013) Morphological, anatomical and histological studies on the olfactory organs and eyes of teleost fish: Anguilla anguilla in relation to its feeding habits. J Basic Appl Zool 66:101–108
Brauer A (1908) Die Tiefseefische. Wi,ss Ergebn. dt. Tiefsee-Exped. 'Valdivia', 15, 2. Anat. Teil. Anat Teil
Collin SP, Davies WL, Hart NS, Hunt DM (2009) The evolution of early vertebrate photoreceptors. Philos Trans R Soc Lond Ser B Biol Sci 364:2925–2940
Collinl SP, Collin HB (1998) The deep-sea teleost cornea: a comparative study of gadiform fishes. Histol Histopathol 13:325–336
Darwish ST, Mohalal ME, Helal MM, El-Sayyad HI (2015) Structural and functional analysis of ocular regions of five marine teleost fishes (Hippocampus hippocampus, Sardina pilchardus, Gobius niger, Mullus barbatus & Solea solea). Egypt J Basic Appl Sci 2:159–166
De Busserolles F, Fitzpatrick JL, Paxton JR, Marshall NJ, Collin SP (2013) Eye-Size Variability in Deep-Sea Lanternfishes (Myctophidae): an ecological and phylogenetic study. PLoS One 8(3):e58519
Donatti L, Fanta E (1999) Morphology of the retina in the freshwater fish Metynnis roosevelti Eigenmann (Characidae, Serrasalminae) and the effects of monochromatic red light. Rev Bras Zootec 16:151–173
Donatti L, Fanta E (2002) Influence of photoperiod on visual prey detection in the Antarctic fish Notothenia neglecta. Antarct Sci 14:146–150
Douglas R (1982) The function of photomechanical movements in the retina of the rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri). J Exp Biol 96:389–403
Ebrey T, Koutalos Y (2001) Vertebrate photoreceptors. Prog Retin Eye Res 20:49–94
El Bakary NESR (2014) Visual adaptations of the eye of Mugil cephalus (Flathead mullet). World Appl Sci J 30:1090–1094
El-Attar A, Al-Zahby S, Atta K (1999) Comparative histological and biometric studies on the Olfactory organs and eyes of differently feeding fishes. Alestes nures, Oreochromis niloticus and Bargrus bayad. J Egypt Ger Soc Zool 28:29–52
Fishelson L, Ayalon G, Zverdling A, Holzman R (2004) Comparative morphology of the eye (with particular attention to the retina) in various species of cardinal fish (Apogonidae, Teleostei). Anat Rec A: Discov Mol Cell Evol Biol 277:249–261
Fishelson L, Delarea Y, Goren M (2012) Comparative morphology and cytology of the eye, with particular reference to the retina, in lizard fishes (Synodontidae, Teleostei). Acta Zool (Stockholm) 93:68–79
Genten F, Terwinghe E, Danguy A (2009) Atlas of fish histology. Science Publishers, Hauppauge
Hayat M (1986) Basic techniques for transmission electron microscopy, 2nd edn. Academic Press, Baltimore
Heb M (2009) Triple cones in the retina of three anchovy species: Engraulis encrasicolus, Cetengraulis mysticeus and Anchovia macrolepidota (Engraulidae, Teleostei). Vis Res 49:1569–1582
Jones MP, Pierce KE, Ward D (2007) Avian vision: a review of form and function with special consideration to birds of prey. J Exot Pet Med 16:69–87
Katzir G, Howland HC (2003) Corneal power and underwater accommodation in great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis). J Exp Biol 206:833–841
McDowell E, Trump B (1976) Histologic fixatives suitable for diagnostic light and electron microscopy. Arch Pathol Lab Med 100:405–414
Nag T, Sur R (1992) Cones in the retina of the catfish, Clarias batrachus (L.) J Fish Biol 40:967–969
Nakayama T et al (2015) Xenopus pax6 mutants affect eye development and other organ systems, and have phenotypic similarities to human aniridia patients. Dev Biol 408:328–344
Nicol JAC (1989) The eyes of fishes. Clarendon, Oxford
Reckel F, Melzer RR, Smola U (2001) Outer retinal fine structure of the garfish Belone belone (L.)(Belonidae, Teleostei) during light and dark adaptation–photoreceptors, cone patterns and densities. Acta Zool 82:89–105
Reckel F, Melzer RR, Parry JWL, Bowmaker JK (2002) The retina of five atherinomorph teleosts: photoreceptors, patterns and spectral sensitivities. Brain Behav Evol 60:249–264
sadat Mansoori F, Sattari A, Kheirandish R, Asli M (2014) A histological study of the outer layer of rabbit fish (Siganus javus) eye. Comp Clin Pathol 23:125–128
Salem MA (2016) Structure and function of the retinal pigment epithelium, photoreceptors and cornea in the eye of Sardinella aurita (Clupeidae, Teleostei). J Basic Appl Zool 75:1–12
Schmitz L, Motani R (2010) Morphological differences between eyeballs of nocturnal and diurnal amniotes revisited from optical perspectives of visual environment. Vis Res 50:936–946
Schmitz L, Wainwright PC (2011) Nocturnality constrains morphological and functional diversity in the eyes of reef fishes. Evol Biol 11:338
Suvarna SK, Layton C, Bancroft JD (2013) Bancroft's theory and practice of histological techniques, expert consult: online and print, 7: Bancroft's theory and practice of histological techniques. Churchill Livingstone Elsevier, London
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
None.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
El-Bakary, N.E.R., Abumandour, M.M.A. Visual adaptations of the eye of the gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). Vet Res Commun 41, 257–262 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-017-9696-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-017-9696-7