Polarization of light reflected from the silvery exterior of the bleak, Alburnus alburnus

Denton, E.J. and Nicol, J.A.C. (1965) Polarization of light reflected from the silvery exterior of the bleak, Alburnus alburnus. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 45 (3). pp. 705-709.

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Abstract

A method is described for measuring, for varius angles of incidence, the polarization produced by reflexions from natural surfaces. This method was tested by measurements on metallic surfaces of know properties and then used to study reflections from the silvery gill cover of the bleak Alburnus alburnus (L.). Although the reflecting surfaces of the gill cover are crystals of a dielectric guanine, there is no polarizing angle, and the reflecting properties of the gill cover resemble those of a sputtered aluminium mirror. The biological significance of these results is briefly discussed.

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