If you were to ask a group of random people what superpower they would opt for if given the choice, chances are pretty good that many people will opt for highly advanced vision. With the ability to see more clearly than everyone else around you, think of all the mishaps you could avoid and advantages you’d have! Although advanced vision still requires some help from mechanics for us humans, many species in the sea are already several steps ahead of us with their everyday, built-in peepers. Here are just five of the most advanced marine animal eyes.
Octopus
The octopus has some of the most advanced marine animal eyes. Its two eyes have more than double the number of optic nerves as human eyes. The lens is fixed, and muscular contractions move the lens closer to or farther from the retina to focus on objects. Scientists are still studying the ways in which an octopus can visually interpret an image’s size, shape, texture, and color, then translate that data to make sophisticated camouflages with its skin.
Colossal Squid
In February 2007, a fishing crew off the coast of New Zealand captured a colossal squid. This cephalopod has the largest eyes in the world, measuring eleven inches in diameter. The lens of the colossal squid is the size of an orange. That means this marine animal’s eye can capture a great deal of light to illuminate the ocean’s dark depths.
Mantis Shrimp
The mantis shrimp has some of the most advanced marine animal eyes. This tiny crustacean can move each eye independently. Mantis shrimp can perceive depth with just one eye. Their eyes also have twelve different color receptors, whereas humans only have three. Like sure flies and insects, the mantis shrimp has a complex eye shape with thousands of individual cells working in harmony. They can see polarized light and ultraviolet light with ease.
Cuatro Ojos
The cuatro ojos, or four-eyed fish of Brazil, has an amazing visual system. It doesn’t actually have four eyes, but two, each one split in half by a tissue membrane. This freshwater fish uses two eyes to see underwater and two eyes to see above the surface. This means the cuatro ojos simultaneously utilizes two different optical axes in the same eye. They give new meaning to the term “double vision.”
Barrelyes
Brownsnout spookfish, also called barreleyes, live at depths of five hundred to two thousand meters below the surface. They have some of the most advanced marine animal eyes. Like the cuatro ojos, these fish are said to have four eyes. That’s because the brownsnout spookfish’s eyes are split in half. This animal can see up and down at the same time. They process light from above using a lens, while processing light from below through a complex system of mirrored plates.
