Interspecific comparisons of immunohistochemical localization of retinal neurotransmitters in four species of bats.

Four ecologically distinctive Neotropical bat species of the family Phyllostomidae were collected and their retinae surveyed immunohistochemically for the presence of neurotransmitter candidates: glucagon, somatostatin, vasoactive intestinal peptide, substance P (SP), methionine enkephalin, serotonin (5-HT) and two enzymes, glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TOH). In all four species immunoreactivity (IR) to GAD, TOH and SP was found. GAD-IR and SP-IR showed little interspecies variation whereas TOH-IR differed interspecifically in a pattern that matched the systematic relationships and the ecological characteristics of the bats. 5-HT-IR, which has not previously been reported from mammalian retinae, was found in fibers in the inner nuclear layer and in the outer and inner plexiform layers of Macrotus waterhousii, which is a relatively underived insectivorous phyllostomid bat, but was not found in the retinae from frugivorous or nectarivorous species.