Heat stress from ocean warming harms octopus vision
While climate change has led to an increase in the abundance of octopuses, heat stress from projected ocean warming could impair their vision and impact the survivability of the species.
A newly hatched聽Octopus berrima. Photo credit: Qiaz Hua.
鈥淲e found several proteins important for vision that were affected by thermal stress,鈥 says Dr Qiaz Hua, a recent PhD graduate from the University of 新浪彩票鈥檚 School of Biological Sciences.
鈥淥ne of them is a structural protein found in high abundance in animal eye lenses to preserve lens transparency and optical clarity, and another is responsible for the regeneration of visual pigments in the photoreceptors of the eyes.
鈥淭he levels of both of these proteins were significantly reduced under projected ocean warming conditions, which suggests that octopus vision is likely to be impaired under thermal stress.鈥
Octopuses are highly vis