The eyes of mesopelagic crustaceans: I. Gennadas sp. (penaeidae)

Abstract

The eye of the deep-sea penaeid shrimp Gennadas consists of approximately 700 square ommatidia with a side length of 15 micrometer. It is hemispherical in shape and is located at the end of a 1.5 mm long eye stalk. The cornea is extremely thin, but the crystalline cone is well-developed. A clear zone between dioptric structures and the rhabdom layer is absent. A few pigment granules are found within the basement membrane; otherwise they, too, are absent from the eye of Gennadas. The rhabdom is massive and occupies 50% of the eye. It consists of orthogonally oriented microvilli (the latter measuring 0.07 micrometer in diameter) and is 75 micrometer long. In cross sections adjacent rhabdoms, all approximately 8 micrometer in diameter, form an almost continuous sheet and leave little space for retinula cell cytoplasm. In spite of a one h exposure to light, rhabdom microvilli show no disintegration or disruption of membranes. Vesicles of various kinds, however, are present in all seven retinula cells near the basement membrane. Bundles of seven axons penetrate the basement membrane. On their way to the lamina they often combine and form larger aggregations.