ERC Consolidator Grant · 2023
Deep-sea fish vision pushing limits of the vertebrate eye
Deep-sea fishes are known for extraordinary adaptations including enhanced sensory systems. They have eyes often modified in shape, anatomy or at the molecular level. Fascinatingly, some deep-sea fishes have evolved unique vision to potentially see colours. Here I propose to study functional evolution of this visual system, and to target the crucial question – can deep-sea fish see in colours? To perceive light, vertebrate retina has two types of photoreceptor cells, the rods for dim-light vision and cones for daylight colour vision. Many deep-sea fish lack cones, which makes them colour blind. The novel visual system based purely on multiple different rod opsins possibly overcomes this…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.