Section of Marine Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.
Curr Biol. 2011 May 10;21(9):798-803. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2011.03.054. Epub 2011 Apr 28.
Box jellyfish have an impressive set of 24 eyes of four different types, including eyes structurally similar to those of vertebrates and cephalopods [1, 2]. However, the known visual responses are restricted to simple phototaxis, shadow responses, and object avoidance responses [3-8], and it has been a puzzle why they need such a complex set of eyes. Here we report that medusae of the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora are capable of visually guided navigation in mangrove swamps using terrestrial structures seen through the water surface. They detect the mangrove canopy by an eye type that is specialized to peer up through the water surface and that is suspended such that it is constantly looking straight up, irrespective of the orientation of the jellyfish. The visual information is used to navigate to the preferred habitat at the edge of mangrove lagoons.
箱形水母拥有令人印象深刻的 24 只眼睛，这些眼睛分为四种不同类型，包括在结构上与脊椎动物和头足类动物相似的眼睛[1,2]。然而，已知的视觉反应仅限于简单的趋光性、阴影反应和物体回避反应[3-8]，它们为什么需要如此复杂的眼睛一直是个谜。在这里，我们报告说，产自中国南海的海黄蜂（Tripedalia cystophora）的水母体能够利用通过水面看到的陆地结构，在红树林沼泽中进行视觉引导的导航。它们通过一种专门用于从水面向上窥视的眼型来探测红树林树冠，这种眼型被悬空设置，使得它始终直视上方，而不管水母的方向如何。这些视觉信息被用来引导它们前往红树林泻湖边缘的首选栖息地。
