LIGHT-INDUCED DAMAGE TO PHOTORECEPTORS OF SPINY LOBSTERS AND OTHER CRUSTACEANS

Light-induced damage to the photoreceptors of lobsters, since it was f irst reported by Loew (1976), has been confirmed for a large variety o f crustacean species. In the majority of these studies attention was f ocused on the crustacean retina and its principal structural elements, the retinula cells with their rhabdomeres. The effects bright lights have on the integrity and physical properties of the dioptric structur es are far less well known and behavioural studies on experimentally b linded crustaceans are scarcer still. One puzzle to all researchers in the field has been why the severity of light-induced damage varied so much between not only different species of crustaceans, but also indi viduals of the same species. It is now believed that a combination of pre-adaptation to light, environmental temperature, diet, and blood-bo rne substances such as serotonin, ascorbic acid and small proteins cou ld provide the explanation.