A Moth: Like other flying insects, moths have compound eyes. Many facets each receive distinct images which together build a composite picture of their surrounding environment. Moths are highly attracted to bright lights and bright colour. However, it is suspected that they are simply drawn to brightness and have limited color vision (unlike their butterfly cousins, who are reputed to have superb color perception!).
	Coral Grouper, Cephalopholis miniata (30cm), a coral reef fish from the Indo-Pacific has typical fish eyes that bulge from its head. Because water and the cornea of the eye refract (or bend) light to the same degree, a fish must push its lens outward in order to receive sufficient light to form adequate images. For more about underwater eye adaptations, click here
	Oyster Catcher (Haematopus bachmani): this Pacific intertidal shellfish predator is known for its unique eye colouration. The bright yellow eye rimmed in orange, a high pitched whee-ee-ee-e call and its laterally compressed bill (for opening the shells of its prey) make it easy to distinguish from other seabirds.
	Leptodora (7-18mm): an open water cladoceran found in the lakes and ponds of the northern US. Their transparency makes them difficult to see in the bright light of surface lake water. The large eyespot is visible as a pigmented area at the anterior end. Leptodora's eye may be able to detect small prey organisms, or it may detect predators, from which it would swim off in a jerky fashion.
	A Papua New Guinea Frog: Frogs have what are called "thinking eyes". Because of a small brain size, frogs base their decisions on reactions occurring in the eye and not the brain. The eyes are motion detectors and they use their visual memory to snap at insect prey or to avoid bees and wasps. Many frog species also have remarkably regenerative eyes and may even grow a lost eye in less than a year.
	The operculum of a snail (Turbo fluctuosus): this fascinating spiral pattern, a so-called cat's eye, is on the circular 'trap door' used by a certain species of snail to close off the shell opening when the body is pulled inside the shell. This species is abundant along the shores of the Gulf of California, and comes out at night to graze algae off the intertidal rocks.
	The false eyes of this butterfly are used to shock and discourage predators from using it as a snack. When the wings are opened suddenly, the eyespots appear like a large and threatening face to an unassuming predator bird. It is possible that the predator bird may perceive the 'two-spot' flash as the eyes of a predatory owl. For more info about pretend eyes, click here.

Back to our gallery about eye diversity and evolution - Who's Eye Is It Anyway?