We humans have evolved to see well in bright daylight. Our senses of color, and our acute spatial and temporal resolution, are among the best found in the vertebrate world. But this is only true during the day. On a moonless night, when light levels may be more than 100 million times dimmer, we are quite helpless. At light levels where we are nearly blind, our cats are out stalking prey, and moths are flying agilely between flowers on our balconies.The same is true of animals inhabiting the darkness of the deep sea. How is such visual performance possible? I will explore the remarkable visual adaptations of nocturnal insects and spiders, deep-sea fishes and crustaceans and the elusive giant squid.

Moderation: Friedrich G. Barth, Universität Wien, ÖAW