Retinal neurons from rats acutely intoxicated with trimethyltin (TMT) were examined by light and electron microscopy to determine if there is a relationship between the subcellular response of a neuron to TMT and its morphologic subspecialization. Subcellular pathologic alterations were present in neurons from all three cellular layers of the sensory retina. However, the type and degree of subcellular response varied among the highly subspecialized neurons of the different retinal layers. Clusters of dense-cored vesicles and tubules were mainly limited to neurons of the ganglion-cell layer, large accumulations of dense bodies were mainly limited to neurons of the inner nuclear layer, and neuronal necrosis was mainly limited to the photoreceptor cells. The inner segment of the photoreceptor cell shared with the perikaryon of more conventional neurons a special vulnerability to TMT cytotoxicity. Our results suggest that the morphologic subspecialization of neurons affects the type and the degree of subcellular response to TMT.