The ultrastructure of the compound eye of Munida rugosa (Crustacea: Anomura) and pigment migration during light and dark adaptation.

Abstract

The galatheid squat lobster, Munida rugosa, has compound eyes of the reflecting superposition type in which a distal cone cell layer and a proximal rhabdom layer are separated by an extensive clear zone. The eye is shown to have certain unique features. In all other reflecting superposition eyes, the clear zone is traversed by crystalline tracts formed by the cone cells. In M. rugosa a thin distal rhabdom thread, formed by the eighth retinula cell, connects the cones to the proximal fusiform rhabdoms. The cytoplasm of the other retinula cells also crosses the clear zone in a complex pattern. Fully light-adapted ommatidia are optically isolated by limited migrations of distal shielding pigments. A reflecting pigment multilayer lines each cone to facilitate the formation of a superposition image. This also shows a light-induced change which may limit the acceptance angle of the eye during light adaptation.