Growth of the teleost eye: novel solutions to complex constraints

Abstract

The cichlid fish, Haplochromis burtoni, is highly dependent on vision for survival in its natural habitat. As is true of most teleost fishes, the eyes continue to grow throughout life without any obvious changes in visual capability. In H. burtoni, for example, retinal area may increase by 27 × in just 6 months. During growth, there is no obvious change in the visual sensitivity, visual acuity or lens quality which must all be appropriate for the enlarging eye. This requires that during growth competing constraints be met. For example, to maintain visual acuity, the number of ganglion cells per visual angle subtended on the retina must remain the same as must the convergence ratio of the cones onto those ganglion cells. In contrast, to maintain visual sensitivity, the number of rod photoreceptors per unit retinal area must remain the same. These requirements are in conflict since a larger eye may preserve acuity with fewer cells per unit area in a larger retina. In addition, the lens properties must remain the same as the animal increases in size so that the image available is of similar quality throughout life. Experiments have been performed to reveal the adaptations during growth which allow the fish to preserve its image of the world throughout life.