Why do the eyes of scallops have two retinas?
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Lunds universitet - Biologiska institutionen |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 1 858 572 |
| Project duration | July 2017 - July 2019 |
| Status | Completed |
Purpose and goal
The main four goals of this project were to 1) determine if scallops integrate the information they receive from their dual retinas, 2) measure the scallop´s polarization sensitivity, 3) discover if the polarization and radiance visual channels interact or not, and 4) model the scallop eye for ray tracing.
Expected results and effects
Three out of four of the project´s goals were attained. While we still do not know if scallops integrate information from their dual retinas, we did discover that they are polarization insensitive. This implies that they do not integrate polarization and radiance vision. Finally, we successfully and accurately modeled their eyes for ray tracing.
Planned approach and implementation
The project was executed through behavioral studies at the University of South Carolina, USA, collaborations with the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and theoretical studies here in Lund.