Further observations on the fine structure of the parietal eye of lizards

Abstract

An electron microscopical study of the third eye of the Western Fence Lizard, Sceloporus occidentalis, fixed with 1 per cent osmium tetroxide, pH 7.4-7.6, for 16 to 20 hours at 0 degrees C., revealed the following new facts. The fibrillar system of the retinal photoreceptor consists of nine double fibrils enclosed in a sheath. Pigment cells and lens cells possess similar systems. Two short cylindrical centrioles are associated with the fibrillar apparatus: one, from which striated rootlets extend inward, lies at the base of the fibrils, with the other at an oblique angle to the axis of the system. A Golgi complex, whorls of endoplasmic reticulum, lipid (?) droplets, and other organelles and inclusions in the photoreceptors are described. An axon leads from the base of the photoreceptor into the nervous layer of the retina which consists of many nerve fibers and large ganglion cells. Although the pattern of neural connections has not yet been determined, some synapses were found. The parietal nerve consists of about 250 non-medullated fibers. The capsule of the eye usually has a layer of iridocytes, which contain rows of guanine (?) rods. A few parietal eyes of the Granite Night Lizard, Xantusia henshawi, were also examined. Large lipid (?) droplets occur in the bases of their receptoral processes.