Zebrafish differentially process colour across visual space to match natural scenes

Abstract

Animal eyes evolve to process behaviourally important visual information, but how retinas deal with statistical asymmetries in visual space remains poorly understood. Using hyperspectral imaging in the field, in-vivo 2-photon imaging of retinal neurons and anatomy, here we show that larval zebrafish use a highly anisotropic retina to asymmetrically survey their natural visual world. First, different neurons dominate different parts of the eye, and are linked to a systematic shift in inner retinal function: Above the animal, there is little colour in nature and retinal circuits are largely achromatic. Conversely, the lower visual field and horizon are colour-rich, and are predominately surveyed by chromatic and colour-opponent circuits that are spectrally matched to the dominant chromatic axes in nature. Second, above the frontal horizon, a high-gain ultraviolet-system piggy-backs onto retinal circuits, likely to support prey-capture. Our results demonstrate high functional diversity among single genetically and morphologically defined types of neurons.