RETINAL PROJECTIONS IN THE FRESH-WATER BUTTERFLY FISH, PANTODON-BUCHHOLZI (OSTEOGLOSSOIDEI) .2. DIFFERENTIAL PROJECTIONS OF THE DORSAL AND VENTRAL HEMIRETINAS

Pantodon buchholzi, the freshwater butterfly fish, is a member of the Osteoglossomorpha, the most primitive of the four major teleost radiations. The projections of fibers originating in the dorsal and ventral hemiretinas in Pantodon, as determined with autoradiography, are reported here. Fibers originating in the ventral hemiretina reach their targets through the axial, medial and dorsal optic tracts. Fibers that originate in the dorsal hemiretina reach their points of termination by way of the axial, medial and ventral optic tracts. Projections of the various tracts to preoptic, thalamic, tubercular, pretectal and tectal regions, as described in the previous study of total retinal projections, were verified. The retinal projections to the preoptic, thalamic and tubercular nuclei do not map topographically. Ventral hemiretinal fibers are mapped, however, onto the dorsal part of nucleus pretectalis superficialis pars parvocellularis, the rostral part of the dorsal accessory optic nucleus, the entire nucleus pretectalis periventricularis pars ventralis and the dorsomedial portion of the optic tectum. Ventral hemiretinal fibers also supply most if not all the retinal innervation to the central pretectal nucleus. In contrast, dorsal hemiretinal fibers are mapped onto the ventral part of nucleus pretectalis superficialis pars parvocellularis, the entire dorsal accessory optic nucleus and the ventrolateral portion of the optic tectum. The dorsal and ventral hemiretinal projections to the tectum abut at a cytoarchitectonically recognizable point, indicating that no discontinuity is present in the retinal connectivity with the tectum. The pars parvocellularis of nucleus pretectalis superficialis is a simple, unfolded, and nonlaminar structure in Pantodon. This structure contrasts markedly with the more complex, folded structure of the nucleus in the majority of other examined teleosts. The orientation of the projections from the dorsal and ventral hemiretinas onto this nucleus in Pantodon is congruent with that seen in other fishes only after a schematic unfolding of the nucleus in these fishes.