Regular orientation of horizontal cells in the river lamprey retina

In isolated retinas of the river lamprey (Lampetra japonica), two types (fast and slow) of light-induced responses (S-potentials) were recorded from two distinct classes of axon-bearing horizontal cells. After the spectral responses of recording cells were examined, a fluorescent dye Lucifer yellow CH (LY) was ionophoretically injected into individual cells. Such a cellular marking was made for 15-25 points per retina successively in time and in space. Then the retinas were processed as flatmounts for fluorescence microscopic observation. Horizontal cells marked with LY were correlated with the recordings and mapped in the retinal field. Both classes of horizontal cells were found to be regularly arranged in space around the optic disc; the long axes of somata and axonal processes are oriented in parallel with the latitude line of the eyeball through the optic disc.