Photoresponses of the compound eye of the sandhopper Talitrus saltator (Crustacea, Amphipoda) in the ultraviolet-blue range.

The semi-terrestrial sandhopper Talitrus saltator uses celestial visual cues to orient along the sea-land axis of the beach. Previous spectral-filtering experiments suggested that it perceives directional information from wavelengths in the ultraviolet (UV)-blue range. Binary choice experiments between dark and UV (380-nm) light carried out on dark-adapted individuals of T. saltator showed photopositive movement to UV. Morphologically, each ommatidium in the eye consists of five retinula cells, four large and one small. In electroretinogram experiments, sensitivity of the dark-adapted eye is dominated by a receptor maximally sensitive at about 390-450 nm and secondarily sensitive at about 500-550 nm. Selective light-adaptation experiments at 580 nm showed the apparent sensitivity decreasing at around the secondary sensitive range, thus disclosing the existence of UV-blue photoreceptor cells. Here the existence of UV-blue detection is confirmed, and evidence is provided that green and UV-blue visual pigments are located in the large and small retinula cells, respectively.