Shape and distribution of an unusual retinal neuron.

Rabbit retinas were exposed to exogenous indoleamines and fixed with mixed aldehydes. The indoleamines were accumulated by two types of amacrine cell and by an unusual cell (type 3) that branches widely in both plexiform layers. The type 3 cells were studied after immunohistochemistry, photooxidation of the fluorescent label, or injection with Lucifer Yellow. Their cell bodies are located at the scleral margin of the inner nuclear layer. The cells' arbors in the outer plexiform layer range from 800 to 1,500 microns in diameter. A descending process crosses the inner nuclear layer and branches in layer 5 of the inner plexiform layer. The arbor in the inner retina can exceed 500 microns in diameter. The distribution of type 3 cells was mapped in a series of retinal whole mounts. The number of type 3 cells ranged from 58 to 270 in different retinas. In two retinas from a single animal, however, it was virtually identical. Type 3 cells are concentrated in the region ventral to the visual streak, so that large areas of the retina are not covered by any type 3 cell. Because of their incomplete retinal coverage and variable number from animal to animal, the type 3 cells appear to be developmental anomalies. Paradoxically, their generation must be precisely controlled because of the numerical symmetry between an individual animal's two eyes.