Abstract
The transparency of pelagic organisms has been remarked upon by many naturalists, most recently by Hamner et al., (1975) but nowhere is it possible to find much more than casual comment and speculation about the physical means by which this is achieved, the visibility of organisms to their predators or their prey and the part which transparency may play in the lives of such organisms. Is transparency the primitive state of organisms and opacity the more highly evolved condition? I think not, because the number of organisms which are strikingly transparent is small compared with the nontransparent ones and those parts of the body of vertebrates which are transparent, the cornea and the lens, are constructed in a specific way which has been shown to provide a basis for a physical explanation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bainbridge, R., 1952. Underwater observations on the swimming of marine zooplankton. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. U.K., 31:107–112.
Blaxter, J.H.S., 1970. Light: Animals: Fishes, pp. 213–285 in Marine Ecology Vol. 1, Pt. 1. Ed. O. Kinne. Wiley-Tnterscience, London.
Chapman, G., 1974. The Skeletal System, pp. 93–128 in Coelenterate Biology, Reviews & New Perspectives. Ed. L. Muscatine & H.M. Lenhoff, Academic Press. New York & London.
Chapman, G., 1976. Transparency in Organisms. Experientia, 32:123–125.
Cox, J.L., R.A. Farrell, R.W. Hart and M.E. Langham, 1970. The transparency of the mammalian cornea. J. Physiol., 210:601–616.
Demoll, R., 1909. Die Augen von Alciopa cantrainii. Zool. Jahrb. Abt. Anat. Ontog. Tiere, 27:651–686.
Denton, E.J., 1970. On the organization of reflecting surfaces in some marine animals. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B., 258:285–313.
Denton, E.J. and T.I. Shaw, 1961. The buoyancy of gelatinous marine animals. J. Physiol. (London), 161:14p–15p.
Duntley, S.Q., 1963. Light in the sea. J. Opt. Soc. Am., 53:214–233.
Greze, V.N., 1963. The determination of transparency among planktonic organisms and its protective significance. Dokl. Akad. Nauk. S.S.S.R., 151:435–438.
Greze, V.N., 1964. The transparency of planktonic organisms in the equatorial part of the Atlantic Ocean. Okeanologiya, 4:125–127.
Hamner, W.M., 1974. Blue-water plankton. Natl. Geog. Mag., 146:530–545.
Hamner, W.M., L.P. Madin, A.L. Alldredge, R.W. Gilmer, P.P. Hamner, 1975. Underwater observations of gelatinous zooplankton: Sampling problems, feeding biology and behaviour. Limnol. Oceanog., 20:907–917.
Jerlov, N.G., 1966. Aspects of light measurement in the sea. pp. 91–98 in Light as an Ecological Factor, Ed. R. Bainbridge et al, Blackwall, Oxford.
Lebour, M.V., 1922. The food of plankton organisms. J. mar. Biol. Ass. U.K., 12:644–77.
Lebour, M.V., 1923. The food of plankton organisms 2. J. mar. Biol. Ass. U.K., 13:70–92.
Mackie, G.O. and G.V. Mackie, 1967. Mesogloeal ultrastructure and reversible opacity in a transparent siphonophore. Vie. Milieu., Serie A: 18:47–71.
Madin, L.P., 1974. Field observations on the feeding behaviour of salps (Tunicata: Thaliacea). Mar. Biol. (Berl.), 25:143–148.
Maurice, D.M., 1957. The structure and transparency of the cornea. J. Physiol., 136:263–286.
Meyer-Rochow, V.B., 1974. Leptocephali and other transparent fish larvae from the south-eastern Atlantic Ocean. Zool. Anz. 192 (3–4): 240–251.
Morin, J., 1974. Coelenterate Bioluminescence, pp. 397–438 in Coelenterate Biology, Reviews & New Perspectives. Ed. L. Muscatine & H.M. Lenhoff. Academic Press, New York & London.
Pumphrey, R.J., 1961. Concerning vision, pp.193-208 in The Cell and the Organism. Ed. J.A. Ramsay & V.B. Wigglesworth. Cambridge U.P. Lond.
Ross, G. & Birley, A.W., 1973. Optical properties of polymeric materials and their measurement. J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 6:795–808.
Starling, E.H. and Lovatt Evans, C., 1962. Principles of human physiology. 13th Ed. Ed. by H. Davson & M.G. Eggleton. Churchill, London.
Swanberg, N., 1974. The feeding behaviour of Beroë ovata. Mar. Biol. (Berl.), 24:69–74.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1976 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Chapman, G. (1976). Reflections on Transparency. In: Mackie, G.O. (eds) Coelenterate Ecology and Behavior. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9724-4_51
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9724-4_51
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-9726-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9724-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive