If you ever saw an axolotl swimming against the aquarium glass, you will quickly ask yourself if axolotls are blind or how much they are able to see?
Axolotls aren’t blind, but they don’t have good eyesight compared to humans. Axolotls are farsighted, so they can see far away things sharply, but close things only blurry.
When searching for food, they orient themselves with the help of smell, sense of touch and react to the movements of their prey.
What do axolotls see?
The vision of axolotls can vary greatly, there are several mutations of axolotls that don’t see much or anything at all. Especially albino axolotls are known to have worse eyesight than other axolotls.
Another peculiarity of axolotls is that they don’t have eyelids and thus can’t close their eyes.
Due to their farsightedness, axolotls can only see blurry except when they are looking at something that is far away. Therefore, when hunting prey, axolotls hardly rely on their eyes, but their other senses.
In addition to their good sense of smell, axolotls can also perceive vibrations in the water with the help of their lateral line organ and locate movements of other animals in the water. The lateral line organ is a sensory organ of aquatic animals and consists of channels that run through the skin. Usually, many of these channels are located in the head area and along the torso of the axolotl.
The lateral line organ of the axolotl, unlike that of sharks, is not composed of ampullae of Lorenzini, but of neuromast cells.
These have, among other things, hair cells that respond to small vibrations in the water and transmit signals to neurons, allowing the axolotl to sense small movements in the water. The system is also called ” remote sense of touch”.
Other animals that have a lateral line organ include sharks, some frogs, and almost all fish.
Can axolotls see in the dark?
Many animals that are primarily active at night or in the twilight hours have developed night vision in the course of evolution. Since axolotls are also particularly active at these times, one can assume that they can also see in the dark.
However, axolotls have never evolved night vision and in fact can probably see much less in the dark than humans because their general vision is not good. Axolotls also rely primarily on their sense of touch and smell at night.
If you are interested in how and when axolotls sleep, you can read this article.
How much light do axolotls need?
Xochimilco, the home lake of the axolotl, is heavily overgrown with plants. Since axolotls mostly stay at the bottom of the lake, they have become accustomed to dim lighting over time.
Very bright or strong light can actually stress them if they don’t have a shady place to hide from the light. And since axolotls don’t have eyelids, they can’t just close their eyes when the light is too bright for them. That’s why axolotls don’t need extra lighting, natural indoor light is usually quite enough.
Are there axolotls that don’t have eyes?
Yes, there is a rare mutation where axolotls don’t develop eyes. These axolotl are completely blind, but can still orient themselves well with their other senses.
Conclusion
Most axolotls aren’t blind, but they don’t have good eyesight. They are farsighted and see things directly in front of their head very blurry. In the dark, they see next to nothing and must rely on their other senses such as smell and touch.