Comparative study of temporal resolution in the visual systems of mesopelagic crustaceans

The temporal characteristics of the visual systems of eight species of mesopelagic crustaceans were studied using the electroretinogram (ERG). Experiments were conducted on shipboard, using dark-captured specimens collected off the south coast of Cuba. As one would expect based on the relative intensity differences in their light environments, the deepest living species, Systellaspis debilis and Sergia jilictum, have low maximum critical flicker fusion frequencies (CFFs) of 21-25 Hz, whereas the shallower living species Oplophorus gracilirostris and lanicella spinacauda have higher maximum CFFs (31-32 Hz).