Photoreceptor spectral sensitivities for selected species.

Peak wavelengths and chromophore types for visual photoreceptors of representative species from vertebrate and invertebrate taxa. Used by species_LEF and species_brightness.

Usage

species_sensitivities

Format

A data frame with 27 rows and 6 columns:

species: Scientific name.
receptor: Receptor class (e.g. "L-cone", "rod").
lambda_max: Peak absorbance wavelength in nm.
chromophore: "A1" (11-cis retinal) or "A2" (11-cis 3,4-didehydroretinal).
channel_role: Primary biological role from the controlled vocabulary "chromatic", "achromatic", "irradiance", "polarization", or "fluorescence".
source: Literature citation for the lambda_max value.

Details

Each row's lambda_max is taken from the primary-literature citation recorded in its source column; luxR reconstructs full sensitivity curves from these peaks using the Govardovskii et al. (2000) visual-pigment template (see govardovskii_template).

Per-receptor lambda_max sources: Bowmaker & Dartnall (1980) and Bailes & Lucas (2013) (Homo sapiens); Robinson et al. (1993) (Danio rerio); Peitsch et al. (1992) (Apis mellifera); Salcedo et al. (1999) (Drosophila melanogaster); Hart et al. (2004) (Callorhinchus milii); Yokoyama et al. (1999) (Latimeria chalumnae); Yoshiura et al. (2011) (Xenopus laevis); Hawryshyn et al. (2003) (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

A role label does not by itself validate a receptor for a model. Complete, cited channel memberships are recorded separately in species_channels. The generic mantis-shrimp record and Aequorea victoria GFP previously included in this table were removed because they are not supported visual-pigment channel records.

References

Govardovskii VI, Fyhrquist N, Reuter T, Kuzmin DG, Donner K (2000) In search of the visual pigment template. Visual Neuroscience 17:509-528.

Full citation keys and their verification status are recorded in data-raw/species_source_map.csv. The legacy Hart et al. (2004) and Yoshiura et al. (2011) attributions remain explicitly unverified pending primary-source confirmation; the values are not silently relabelled.

Robinson J, Schmitt EA, Hárosi FI, Reece RJ, Dowling JE (1993). “Zebrafish Ultraviolet Visual Pigment: Absorption Spectrum, Sequence, and Localization.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 90(13), 6009–6012. doi:10.1073/pnas.90.13.6009 . 2026-06-04.

Hawryshyn CW, Martens G, Allison WT, Anholt BR (2003). “Regeneration of Ultraviolet-Sensitive Cones in the Retinal Cone Mosaic of Thyroxin-Challenged Post-Juvenile Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss).” Journal of Experimental Biology, 206(15), 2665–2673. ISSN 0022-0949. doi:10.1242/jeb.00470 . 2026-06-04.

Examples

data(species_sensitivities)
subset(species_sensitivities, species == "Danio rerio")
#>       species receptor lambda_max chromophore channel_role               source
#> 6 Danio rerio  UV-cone        362          A2    chromatic Robinson et al. 1993
#> 7 Danio rerio   S-cone        415          A2    chromatic Robinson et al. 1993
#> 8 Danio rerio   M-cone        480          A2    chromatic Robinson et al. 1993
#> 9 Danio rerio   L-cone        561          A2    chromatic Robinson et al. 1993