The Fundus and Fovea Centralis of the Albatross (Diomedea Cauta Cauta Gould)

O’Day, Kevin

doi:10.1136/bjo.24.5.201

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…A similar band of increased cell densitywith or without a central fovea -has been shown, either anatomically or ophthalmoscopically, in several other procellariiform species: the sooty albatross Phoebetria fusca, shy albatross Diomedea cauta, Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus, sooty shearwater Puffinus griseus, soft-plumaged petrel Pterodroma mollis, Fulmar petrel Fulmaris glacialis and giant petrel Macronectes giganteus (Wood, 1917;O'Day, 1940;Lockie, 1952;Hayes and Brooke, 1990). Some shearwaters, for example the little shearwater Puffinus assimilis, lack a visual streak and instead have a simple area centralis; differences in the retinal topography of petrel species are undoubtedly related to visual ecology, most likely feeding behaviour (Hayes and Brooke, 1990).…”

Section: Microspectrophotometric Datasupporting

confidence: 61%

Microspectrophotometry of visual pigments and oil droplets in a marine bird, the wedge-tailed shearwaterPuffinus pacificus: topographic variations in photoreceptor spectral characteristics

Hart

2004

Journal of Experimental Biology

103

102

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SUMMARY Microspectrophotometric examination of the retina of a procellariiform marine bird, the wedge-tailed shearwater Puffinus pacificus, revealed the presence of five different types of vitamin A1-based visual pigment in seven different types of photoreceptor. A single class of rod contained a medium-wavelength sensitive visual pigment with a wavelength of maximum absorbance (λmax) at 502 nm. Four different types of single cone contained visual pigments maximally sensitive in either the violet(VS, λmax 406 nm), short (SWS, λmax 450 nm), medium (MWS, λmax 503 nm) or long (LWS,λ max 566 nm) spectral ranges. In the peripheral retina, the SWS, MWS and LWS single cones contained pigmented oil droplets in their inner segments with cut-off wavelengths (λcut) at 445 (C-type),506 (Y-type) and 562 nm (R-type), respectively. The VS visual pigment was paired with a transparent (T-type) oil droplet that displayed no significant absorption above at least 370 nm. Both the principal and accessory members of the double cone pair contained the same 566 nm λmax visual pigment as the LWS single cones but only the principal member contained an oil droplet, which had a λcut at 413 nm. The retina had a horizontal band or `visual streak' of increased photoreceptor density running across the retina approximately 1.5 mm dorsal to the top of the pecten. Cones in the centre of the horizontal streak were smaller and had oil droplets that were either transparent/colourless or much less pigmented than at the periphery. It is proposed that the reduction in cone oil droplet pigmentation in retinal areas associated with high visual acuity is an adaptation to compensate for the reduced photon capture ability of the narrower photoreceptors found there. Measurements of the spectral transmittance of the ocular media reveal that wavelengths down to at least 300 nm would be transmitted to the retina.

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Section: Microspectrophotometric Datasupporting

confidence: 61%

Microspectrophotometry of visual pigments and oil droplets in a marine bird, the wedge-tailed shearwaterPuffinus pacificus: topographic variations in photoreceptor spectral characteristics

Hart

2004

Journal of Experimental Biology

103

102

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“…These comparisons suggest that neither the Leach's storm petrel nor the northern fulmar has maximized retinal cell densities to achieve the spatial resolution possible considering eye size alone. However, among the procellariiforms that have been studied, the presence of a fovea is so far only noted in surface-nesting species [the northern fulmar (this study), the shy albatross (Thalassarche cauta; formerly known as Diomedea cauta, see O'Day, 1940) and the Southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus; O'Day, 1940)], but not in burrow-nesting species [Leach's storm petrel (this study) and Manx shearwater (Hayes and Brooke, 1990)]. These results suggest that surface nesters may be adapted to have higher visual acuity than burrow-nesting species.…”

Section: −1mentioning

confidence: 88%

Vision on the high seas: spatial resolution and optical sensitivity in two procellariiform seabirds with different foraging strategies

Mitkus

Nevitt

Danielsen

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Procellariiform or 'tubenosed' seabirds are challenged to find prey and orient over seemingly featureless oceans. Previous studies have found that life-history strategy (burrow versus surface nesting) was correlated to foraging strategy. Burrow nesters tended to track prey using dimethyl sulphide (DMS), a compound associated with phytoplankton, whereas surface-nesting species did not. Burrow nesters also tended to be smaller and more cryptic, whereas surface nesters were larger with contrasting plumage coloration. Together these results suggested that differences in life-history strategy might also be linked to differences in visual adaptations. Here, we used Leach's storm petrel, a DMSresponder, and northern fulmar, a non-responder, as model species to test this hypothesis on their sensory ecology. From the retinal ganglion cell density and photoreceptor dimensions, we determined that Leach's storm petrels have six times lower spatial resolution than the northern fulmars. However, the optical sensitivity of rod photoreceptors is similar between species. These results suggest that under similar atmospheric conditions, northern fulmars have six times the detection range for similarly sized objects. Both species have extended visual streaks with a central area of highest spatial resolution, but only the northern fulmar has a central fovea. The prediction that burrow-nesting DMSresponding procellariiforms should differ from non-responding species nesting in the open holds true for spatial resolution, but not for optical sensitivity. This result may reflect the fact that both species rely on olfaction for their nocturnal foraging activity, but northern fulmars might use vision more during daytime.

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“…Among birds, however, macroscopic examination indicates examples of a central area for lateral viewing, two areas (bimacular fundus), or even two areas superposed on a visual streak, the infulabimacular fundus (WOOD, 1917), but these organizations require quantitative substantiation. Macroscopic examination also reveals the visual streak to be common among birds (CHIEVITZ, 1889(CHIEVITZ, , 1891SLONAKER, 1897;WOOD, 1917;O'DAY, 1940;DUIJM, 1959); in addition, it is present in certain sharks (FRANZ, 1931) and teleosts (BUTCHER, 1938;ENGSTROM, 1963;MUNK, 1970) but not in many other fish (KAHMANN, 1934;TAMURA, 1957;SCHWASSMANN, 1958), anurans (CHIEVITZ, 1889(CHIEVITZ, , 1891SLONAKER, 1897;GAUPP, 1904;JACOBSEN, 1962), chelonians (HESS, 1913;BROWN, 1969), lacertilia (SLONAKER, 1897;KAHMANN, 1936), and crocodilia (CHIEVITZ, 1889;1891). Unique among the studied vertebrate retinae are those of two cyprinodontid fish (MUNK, 1970) which have a bi-infular fundus containing two parallel visual streaks about which more will be said later.…”

Section: Retinal Ganglion-cell Topography In Nonmammalian Classesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In any event, it remains to be demonstrated that the bird streak is specifically adapted for use during flight. Its presence in the albatross (O'DAY, 1940) suggests, in view of the long diurnal periods spent on the wing, that the streak plays some role in flight. According to WOOD (1917) the streak is common in ground feeding birds and probably enables the bird to widen the limits of his field of distinct vision (especially while feeding) without being obliged to move the whole head.…”

Section: Current Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Topography of Vision in Mammals of Contrasting Life Style: Comparative Optics and Retinal Organisation

Hughes¹

1977

Handbook of Sensory Physiology

613

785

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The Fundus and Fovea Centralis of the Albatross (Diomedea Cauta Cauta Gould)

Cited by 17 publications

References 1 publication

Microspectrophotometry of visual pigments and oil droplets in a marine bird, the wedge-tailed shearwaterPuffinus pacificus: topographic variations in photoreceptor spectral characteristics

Microspectrophotometry of visual pigments and oil droplets in a marine bird, the wedge-tailed shearwaterPuffinus pacificus: topographic variations in photoreceptor spectral characteristics

Vision on the high seas: spatial resolution and optical sensitivity in two procellariiform seabirds with different foraging strategies

The Topography of Vision in Mammals of Contrasting Life Style: Comparative Optics and Retinal Organisation

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