Mollusc eye

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Scallops have up to 100 simple eyes

The molluscs have the widest variety of eye morphologies of any phylum,[1] and a large degree of variation in their function. Cephalopods such as octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish have eyes as complex as those of vertebrates, while scallops have up to 100 simple eyes.[2]

Diversity

There are between seven and eleven distinct eye types in molluscs.[3] Molluscs have eyes of all levels of complexity, from the pit eyes of many gastropods, to the pinhole eyes of the Nautilus, to the lensed eyes of the cephalopods. Compound eyes are present in some bivalves, and reflective 'mirrors' have been innovated by other lineages such as scallops.[1] As well as varying in complexity, the eyes of molluscs span a huge range in size; they may be from Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). to 27 cm (11 in) across.[1]

Anatomy

Gastropods and cephalopods have paired eyes on their heads (and sometimes tails),[1] but many molluscs do not have clear head regions in which to locate the eyes. Consequently, many molluscs may have a multitude of eyes in more unlikely places, such as along the edge of their shell.[1] Chitons have a dispersed network of tiny eyes over the surface of their shells which may act together as a compound eye.[1] Many gastropods have stalked eyes; the eye can be retracted into the stalk itself in the presence of danger.[1]

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See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. Land MF and Fernald RD (1992) "The evolution of eyes" Annual Review of Neuroscience, 15: 1–29.
  3. 'Camera eyes in gastropod molluscs", mapoflife.org

External links

Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons