Endogenous circadian retinomotor movements in the neon tetra (Paracheirodon innesi)

Abstract

Retinomotor movements of retinal cones and pigment epithelium melanosomes were studied in the neon tetra, Paracheirodon innesi. The cone myoids clearly contracted during the daytime, but the migration of the total population of pigment granules was less easy to see. However, when rod-shaped melanosomes were measured separately from granular-shaped melanosomes it became evident that the rod-shaped melanosomes, but not the granular melanosomes, did migrate in response to circadian changes in light intensity. Retinomotor movements of both the cones and the rod-shaped melanosomes persisted for at least 2 days in continuous darkness. Microspectrophotometric measurements of spectral transmission of small groups of melanosomes showed that absorption was greatest at shorter wavelengths, but that there was also a distinct absorbance maximum at about 480 nm.