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Age-related changes in the visual acuity of larvae of New Zealand snapper, Pagrus auratus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Patricia M. Pankhurst
Patricia M. Pankhurst
Affiliation:
Leigh Marine Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand.
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Abstract

Snapper Pagrus auratus (Bloch & Schneider) (Pisces: Sparidae) larvae are visual feeders which initiate exogenous feeding four days after hatching. Visual acuity of cultured snapper larvae was determined morphologically from cone spacing within the retina, and improved from 2°10’ minimum separable angle (MSA) in a 4-d-old larva (3·2 mm SL) to 52’ in a fish 22 d old (5·8 mm SL). Visual acuity determined behaviourally using the optokinetic response, was poorer at the time of first feeding than acuity determined morphologically. Behaviourally determined acuity improved with growth from 38° in 4-d-old fish (mean SL 3·1 mm) to 8°8’ at 16 d of age (mean SL 4·9 mm). This was still lower than the theoretical estimate of acuity (55’ at 18 d old, 5·9 mm SL). An estimate of the Matthiessen ratio based upon histological measurements suggests that the larval eye is initially strongly myopic and grows into focus. Development of the lens accommodative system was first apparent in fish at 4 d of age as a pigmented outgrowth of the ventral iris. A retractor lentis muscle was present in 7-d-old larvae (3·5 mm SL) and suspensory ligaments were present in 10-d-old fish (3·6 mm SL). As a consequence, larval snapper were initially incapable of accommodative lens movements to correct for a refractive error. The maximum internal jaw dimensions, an estimate of maximum ingestible prey size, ranged from 152 μn at first feeding to 373 μm in a 22 d old larva. Reactive distance to prey based on MSA determined from the optokinetic response and maximum prey width, were small in first-feeding fish (0·2 mm for prey width of 150 μm), but increased linearly with both body size and prey width. Minimum separable angles of first-feeding snapper deter-mined optokinetically, were larger (lower acuity) than the visual angles determined from feeding events of first-feeding fish larvae reported elsewhere. This may reflect the fact that optokinetic experiments involve a single sensory modality and chemical sense and developing lateral line may contribute to visually oriented feeding.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 74 , Issue 2 , May 1994 , pp. 337 - 349
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1994

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