Illumination induced an increase in inositol polyphosphates, inositol 1,4-bisphosphate and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, in the photoreceptors of the squid, Loligo pealei. There was a concomitant decrease in phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate, but no light-induced change in any other phosphoinositide. None of these stimulus-induced changes were altered by treatment in vivo with pertussis toxin, which ADP-ribosylated a Mr-39000-peptide. These findings support the hypothesis that inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate participates as either a messenger or a modulator in transduction in invertebrate photoreceptors.