*Biology Department, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institution, Moss Landing, CA, USA.
Integr Comp Biol. 2007 Dec;47(6):808-14. doi: 10.1093/icb/icm092. Epub 2007 Sep 18.
The pelagic realm of the ocean is characterized by extremely clear water and a lack of surfaces. Adaptations to the visual ecology of this environment include transparency, fluorescence, bioluminescence, and deep red or black pigmentation. While the signals that pelagic organisms send are increasingly well-understood, the optical capabilities of their viewers, especially for predators with camera-like vision such as fish and squid, are almost unknown. Aquatic camera-like vision is characterized by a spherical lens focusing an image on the retina. Here, we measured the resolving power of the lenses of eight species of pelagic cephalopods to obtain an approximation of their visual capabilities. We did this by focusing a standard resolution target through dissected lenses and calculating their modulation transfer functions. The modulation transfer function (MTF) is the single most complete expression of the resolving capabilities of a lens. Since the optical and retinal capabilities of an eye are generally well-matched, we considered our measurements of cephalopod lens MTF to be a good proxy for their visual capabilities in vivo. In general, squid have optical capabilities comparable to other organisms generally assumed to have good vision, such as fish and birds. Surprisingly, the optical capability of the eye of Vampyroteuthis infernalis rivals that of humans.
海洋的远洋领域的特点是水极其清澈，缺乏表面。适应这种环境的视觉生态学的特征包括透明度、荧光、生物发光和深红色或黑色色素沉着。虽然远洋生物发出的信号越来越被理解，但它们的观众的光学能力，特别是对于具有类似相机的视觉的捕食者，如鱼类和鱿鱼，几乎是未知的。水生类相机的视觉特征是一个球形透镜，将图像聚焦在视网膜上。在这里，我们测量了八种远洋头足类动物的透镜分辨率，以获得对其视觉能力的近似估计。我们通过聚焦通过解剖透镜的标准分辨率目标并计算它们的调制传递函数（MTF）来做到这一点。调制传递函数（MTF）是透镜分辨能力的最完整表达。由于眼睛的光学和视网膜能力通常是匹配的，因此我们认为我们对头足类动物透镜 MTF 的测量是其体内视觉能力的良好代表。一般来说，鱿鱼具有与其他通常被认为具有良好视力的生物（如鱼类和鸟类）相当的光学能力。令人惊讶的是，Vampyroteuthis infernalis 的眼睛光学能力可与人类相媲美。
