Deep-sea amphipods have evolved remarkable night vision capabilities

In the midwater, the need to see without being seen in this dim, open environment, has led to extraordinary visual adaptations. Many midwater animals have evolved powerful eyes that allow them to detect prey, mates, and predators in the dark. New research by scientists at The University of Western Australia’s Oceans Institute and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History—including MBARI Adjunct Karen Osborn—explores the unique visual system of hyperiid amphipods, shrimp-like crustaceans that live in the ocean’s twilight zone. Hyperiid amphipods have evolved remarkably diverse eyes, each with different functional capabilities. Scientists have only discovered about 340 species of hyperiid amphipods, but the diversity of their eyes rivals that seen among the millions of species of terrestrial insects. Using 3D imaging and computational modeling, the research team compared the structure and function of the eyes of three different deep-sea hyperiids. Hyperia has evolved eyes that k