DYNAMIC MECHANISM OF VISUAL ACCOMMODATION IN TELEOSTS - STRUCTURE OF THE LENS MUSCLE AND ITS NERVE CONTROL

The accommodatory system was examined in two teleosts (mackerel and bass). The fine structure and innervation of the lens muscle is presented to characterize the muscle organization. The neural pathway involved in the dynamic accomodation was examined by analysing the fibre spectrum of the ciliary nerve, and the nerve that controls the lens-muscle activity was studied by means of electrical stimulation. The lens muscle is composed of smooth-muscle cells, which contain numerous mitochondria. Many synaptic endings are also found on the muscle cells; these synaptic endings contain many agranular vesicles. From the results of the fibre analysis, it was found that the nerve that controls the lens muscle contains less than 100 myelinated nerve fibres in both fish: the electrical stimulation experiments demonstrate that the muscle is controlled by oculomotor (parasympathetic) nerve fibres. Ultrastructural features of the lens muscle and its nerve control resemble those of the mammalian ciliary muscle. The teleostean lens muscle is classified as a multi-unit smooth muscle.