The retinal pigment epithelium of the teleost Notopterus notopterus (Pallas): appearance of basal infoldings during prolonged dark-adaptation

In teleosts, the basal part of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is relatively smooth, i. e., it is free of basal membrane infoldings. In the featherback, Notopterus notopterus, whereas this is the situation in light adaptation, during dark-adaptation, especially when kept for prolonged periods (6-9 hour), numerous infoldings appear at the basal region, as found uniquely by transmission electron microscopy. In this teleost, during retinomotor movements, the rods move vitreally during dark-adaptation, while the cones do not elongate, and remain stationary in both light- and dark-adaptation. The significance of the appearance of basal infoldings in dark-adapted RPE is explained in terms of the pattern of retinomotor responses and the features of RPE and photoreceptors in this species. It is suggested that (1) the thick, impervious tapetal layer present in the RPE, (2) the unusual position of the photoreceptors in the visual cell layer of dark-adapted retina, and (3) the presumably high demand for glucose and O2 of the outer retina during dark-adaptation might contribute to cause this phenomenon in this species. The available evidence tend to associate this phenomenon with the involvement of the RPE in nutrient and O2 delivery to the photoreceptors via the basal infoldings of the RPE in dark-adapted state in this species. This has not been reported for any other teleosts to date.