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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Coral Algae Have "Eyes," Study Says


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Crystal layers that make up eyespots in single-celled algae (left, a single cell with the layers in the bottom left) were recently captured in electron microscope images.

The discovery of the layers (a close-up detail, right) means that the coral-dwelling algae—called zooxanthellae—may be able to "see," a July 2009 study says.

Photograph by Yamashita Hiroshi, Hiroshima University