Deactivation, recovery from inactivation, and modulation of extra-synaptic ion currents in fish retinal ganglion cells.

As is shown magnificently by Heron Island's reef, the visual environment of many fishes includes various light intensities, hues and shapes that can change on large and small scales in space and time. Several articles in this issue address why fishes are sensitive to some of these properties, and how fishes and other aquatic species have acquired or fostered these sensitivities. This article discusses contributions of extrasynaptic ion currents, in a specific population of neurons, to the detection of ambient light levels, the appearance of certain visual stimuli and the disappearance of others.