skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Search for: All records

Creators/Authors contains: "McDonald, Marisa S."

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

  1. Stomatopod crustaceans have among the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom, with up to twelve different color detection channels. The capabilities of these unique eyes include photoreception of ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths (<400 nm). UV vision has been well characterized in adult stomatopods but has not been previously demonstrated in the comparatively simpler larval eye. Larval stomatopod eyes are developmentally distinct from their adult counterpart and have been described as lacking the visual pigment diversity and morphological specializations found in adult eyes. However, recent studies have provided evidence that larval stomatopod eyes are more complex than previously thought and warrant closer investigation. Using electroretinogram recordings in live animals we found physiological evidence of blue and UV sensitive photoreceptors in larvae of the Caribbean stomatopod species Neogonodactylus oerstedii. Transcriptomes of individual larvae were used to identify the expression of three distinct UV opsins transcripts, which may indicate the presence of multiple UV spectral channels. This is the first paper to document UV vision in any larval stomatopod, expanding our understanding of the importance of UV sensitivity in plankton. Similar to adults, larval stomatopod eyes are more complex than expected and contain previously uncharacterized molecular diversity and physiological functions. 
    more » « less