Clockwork blue: on the evolution of non-image-forming retinal photoreceptors in marine and terrestrial vertebrates

Abstract

This paper presents a hypothesis that could explain why blue light appears to dominate non-image-forming (NIF) ocular photoreception in marine as well as terrestrial vertebrates. Indeed, there is more and more evidence suggesting that 'novel' retinal photoreceptors, which are sensitive to blue light and were only discovered in the 1990s, could be a feature shared by all vertebrates. In our view, blue light photoreception evolved and persisted as NIF photoreception because it has been useful in the colonisation of extensive photo-dependent oceanic habitats and facilitated the move of vertebrates from an aquatic to a terrestrial environment. Because the available scattered evidence is compatible with the validity of our hypothesis, we hope that our rationale will be followed up. Indeed, it (1) involves testable predictions, (2) provides plausible explanations for previous observations, (3) unites phenomena not previously considered related to one another and (4) suggests tests that have not been carried out before. Overall, our approach not only embraces cross-disciplinary links; it, moreover, serves as a reminder of an all-embracing evolutionary history, especially with regard to a ubiquitous photoreceptive 'clockwork-blue' in marine and terrestrial vertebrates.