Dr E. Gaten - research interests

Blinding of vent shrimps by submersible lights.

A cruise to the vent fields of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (AMORES Marvel cruise of RV Atalante) during 1997 yielded hydrothermal vent shrimps with either pink or white eyes.

Sections reveal that the pink eyes showed signs of recent light-induced damage, probably occurring during capture. The white eyes have variable amounts of damage with many showing a complete loss of the rhabdom layer.

In the absence of any other bright light source at these depths, we have attributed this damage to exposure to the lights on submersible craft of scientists exploring the vents.

Herring P.J., Gaten E. & Shelton P.M.J. (1999) Are vent shrimps blinded by science? Nature 398:116.

Gaten, E., Herring P.J. & Shelton P.M.J. (1999) Irreversible eye damage in bresiliid vent shrimps caused by submersible lights. In: Crustaceans and the Biodiversity Crisis (eds. F. R. Schram & J. C. von Vaupel Klein): 871-877: Brill, Leiden

Last updated: May 2004
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