UnderwateR Eyeballs

Written by Nicole Adamson

Stoplight Loose Jaw

Illustrated by Mel Conti Chen

ese sh inhabit the twilight zone of the ocean where little light is found. In this zone, hundreds of meters of water lter out red light, leaving only traces of bluish light. As a result, most organisms that live in this region of the ocean lack the ability to detect red light at all. However, the stoplight loosejaw has an incredible advantage compared to other animals that inhabit this zone by creating a sort of private organ beneath its eye that emits red light using uorescent proteins. brown membrane to allow only long-wavelength red light to be emitted. In addition, this capacity to detect red light due to the presence of special compounds in the retina. known as photosensitizers, may be obtained from the diet of the stoplight loosejaw, according to research by Rondald Douglas and colleagues. Researchers hypothesize that this combination of red bioluminescence and light detection enable the stoplight loosejaw to see its prey without alerting predators to its presence.

Scallops

Bay scallops have dozens of bright blue eyes. Unlike human eyes, the inside of the scallop eye is covered in ect light onto the retina, which is located at the front of the inside of the eye. But this mirror mechanism still fails to explain the striking blue color, which is not found in some sea scallops. Daniel Speiser and colleagues from the University of South Carolina hypothesize that this color comes from pigments that are designed to block scallop eyes from UV radiation. Compared to species that live in deep water, bay scallops are exposed to more sunlight, and these pigments protect their eyes from damage.

Chambered nautiluses rst evolved over 400 million years ago, which provides them the distinction of being considered “living fossils.” Similar to squids and octopuses, which are their closest relatives, nautiluses are molluscs. However, nautiluses have a more primitive eye than their squishier relatives. eir eyes lack a lens or cornea, instead relying on a pinhole to focus light onto the retina, which works by only allowing a few light rays in. Unfortunately, this comes with a tradeo : A smaller pinhole allows for a sharper image, but it is also dimmer. As a result, nautiluses lack the same visual capacity as animals with eye lenses.

Editors-in-Chief: Lina Lew, Sharanya Sriram

Executive Editor: Anjali Iyangar

Editor-at-Large: Nicole Adamson

Production Editors: Tania Gallardo, Amber Hauw

Production Team: Dhathry Doppalapudi, Jacqueline Cheung, Irum Aamer, Azzaya Munkhbat

Head Illustrator: Kristiana Wong

Staff Illustrators: Lindsey Kim, Mel Conti Chen

Head Photographer: Bridget Spencer

Staff Photographers: Jordan Chalmers, Tommy Murphy, Inaya Nicholls

Head Tech Editor: Nicolas Bello

HALLUCINOGENS like LSD and psilocybin cause pseudo-hallucinations, which are visual and other sensory distortions that are known by the user as not part of reality. These compounds work by binding to the serotonin receptor 5-HT2A, which is found in the visual cortex in high concentrations. Pseudo-hallucinations can be seen either with the eyes open or closed.

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