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Multiple cone visual pigments and the potential for trichromatic colour vision in two species of elasmobranch

Overview of attention for article published in Journal of Experimental Biology, December 2004
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  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (74th percentile)
  • Above-average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (52nd percentile)

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1 X user
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2 Wikipedia pages

Citations

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74 Dimensions

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126 Mendeley
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Title
Multiple cone visual pigments and the potential for trichromatic colour vision in two species of elasmobranch
Published in
Journal of Experimental Biology, December 2004
DOI 10.1242/jeb.01314
Pubmed ID
Authors

Nathan S. Hart, Thomas J. Lisney, N. Justin Marshall, Shaun P. Collin

Abstract

Elasmobranchs (sharks, skates and rays) are the modern descendents of the first jawed vertebrates and, as apex predators, often occupy the highest trophic levels of aquatic (predominantly marine) ecosystems. However, despite their crucial role in the structure of marine communities, their importance both to commercial and to recreational fisheries, and the inherent interest in their role in vertebrate evolution, very little is known about their visual capabilities, especially with regard to whether or not they have the potential for colour vision. Using microspectrophotometry, we show that the retinae of the giant shovelnose ray (Rhinobatos typus) and the eastern shovelnose ray (Aptychotrema rostrata) contain three spectrally distinct cone visual pigments with wavelengths of maximum absorbance (lambdamax) at 477, 502 and 561 nm and at 459, 492 and 553 nm, respectively. The retinae of R. typus and A. rostrata also contain a single type of rod visual pigment with lambdamax at 504 and 498 nm, respectively. R. typus, living in the same estuarine waters as A. rostrata, were found to have identical visual pigments to R. typus inhabiting coral reef flats, despite a considerable difference in habitat spectral radiance. This is the first time that multiple cone visual pigments have been measured directly in an elasmobranch. The finding raises the possibility that some species are able to discriminate colour--a visual ability traditionally thought to be lacking in this vertebrate class--and it is evident that the visual ecology of elasmobranchs is far more complex than once thought.

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X Demographics

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 126 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Spain 3 2%
Australia 3 2%
Germany 1 <1%
Brazil 1 <1%
Colombia 1 <1%
United Kingdom 1 <1%
Sweden 1 <1%
Japan 1 <1%
United States 1 <1%
Other 0 0%
Unknown 113 90%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 28 22%
Student > Ph. D. Student 23 18%
Student > Bachelor 18 14%
Student > Master 17 13%
Student > Doctoral Student 7 6%
Other 13 10%
Unknown 20 16%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 83 66%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 4 3%
Environmental Science 4 3%
Neuroscience 4 3%
Medicine and Dentistry 2 2%
Other 10 8%
Unknown 19 15%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 21 November 2023.
All research outputs
#7,959,162
of 25,371,288 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Experimental Biology
#4,123
of 9,327 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#36,754
of 150,305 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Experimental Biology
#22
of 48 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,371,288 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 67th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 9,327 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 14.9. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 54% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 150,305 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 74% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 48 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 52% of its contemporaries.