Representation of the stomatopod's retinal midband in the optic lobes: putative neural substrates for integrating chromatic, achromatic and polarization information

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The stomatopod (mantis shrimp), Lysiosquillina maculata in the act of spearing a damselfish. The raptorial strike is 40 times faster than that of its land‐based insect namesake, the preying mantis. The visual system mediating the stomatopod's predatory behaviors originated over 400 million years ago. This paper examines the neuronal relay system housed within the eyestalk that allows the coordination of these raptorial movements. Neuropils beneath the eye coordinate information from 20 or more parallel retinal channels including 12 color sensitivities, six polarization channels, and spatial information from thousands of achromatic receptors. This paper is the second of a series discovering how this barrage of sensory information is reduced to supply circuits coordinating such complex behavior. Image courtesy of Professor Roy Caldwell, University of California, San Diego.
Source: The Journal of Comparative Neurology - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Research Article Source Type: research