Photopigment Spectral Absorbance in Four Hudson River Fishes

ABSTRACT

We measured the spectral absorbance of photoreceptor cells from four fish species common to the lower Hudson River—striped bass (Morone saxatilis), white perch (Morone americana), Atlantic silverside (Menidia menidia), and bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix). Striped bass and white perch were dichromatic with maximum wavelength sensitivities around 530 nm and above 600 nm. Atlantic silverside had cones with peak absorbances at 400 nm, 449 nm, and 570 nm. The bluefish peak absorbances fell at 423 nm, 447 nm, 526 nm, and 564 nm.