Dark-adaptive cone elongation in the blue acara retina is triggered by green-sensitive cones

In a dichromatic teleost species, we determined the intensity of light of various wavelengths required to prevent cone elongation by exposing fish at the time of their normal “dusk” phase to monochromatic light (479, 623, and 660 nm) at eight to ten different intensities for 75 min. The positions of single and double cones were measured in tangential sections and expressed as cone indices. At all wavelengths, the spectral responses of both cone types were virtually identical. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the blocking effect was highest at shorter wavelengths. When comparing the relative quantal sensitivities of myoid elongation for the two cone types to the spectral sensitivities of the three types of Aequidens pulcher photoreceptor, we found the closest match between the action spectrum and the absorption spectrum of the green-sensitive single cones. This may indicate that this cone type is capable of reacting directly to decreasing levels of illumination. On the other hand, the identical sensitivity of both cone types argues for an indirect control mechanism of dark-adaptive cone elongation, possibly via a neural pathway involving the inner retinal layers, complementary to the neural control of light adaptation. Green-sensitive single cones are well suited to trigger this response, since (1) their sensitivity is inferior to that of double cones; (2) waters inhabited by the blue acara transmit best at long wavelengths; and (3) at dusk, long-wavelength radiation dominates over other parts of the spectrum. Therefore, green-sensitive cone threshold will be reached first at dusk.