Ultraviolet photoreception in carp: microspectrophotometry and behaviorally determined action spectra

Abstract

This study demonstrates correlations between u.v. sensitivity and microspectrophotometric absorption spectra determined sequentially for the same group of individuals. We used the heart-rate conditioning technique to measure spectral sensitivity of carp, a species known to have u.v.-sensitive photoreceptors. Mean spectral sensitivity (n = 3) determined with a spectrally-broad background (450 nm long pass filter) revealed a small but consistent u.v. peak (lambda max of 380 nm) in addition to the other long wavelength peaks. An intense blue-green background (490 nm) produced a more prominent u.v. peak (lambda max of 400 nm) when a 450 nm longpass filter was added to the background. Microspectrophotometric measurements of u.v.-sensitive photoreceptors from one individual, which belonged to the group used in the spectral sensitivity experiments, revealed an average lambda max of 377.5 nm (SD +/- 4.5 nm, n = 5 cells). Bleaching and dichroic measurements of these receptors ensured that we were examining typical vertebrate visual pigments and not stable photoproducts. The mean spectral sensitivity points were compared with the u.v. and blue-sensitive visual pigment absorption spectra. A linear subtractive model and ocular media absorption were used in this comparison for the various photic conditions used in the heart-rate conditioning experiments. The model successfully described the sensitivity of the test fish in two cases but in a third case there was some discrepancy. The model generated curve was broader than the spectral sensitivity of the u.v.-sensitive cone mechanism on the shortwave side even though the ocular media corrections had been accounted for.