Binds lactose. Homodimer. Localized to the lens of early embryos (48 hpf), particularly in lens fiber cells (at protein level). In the adult, expression is highest in the eye but is also present in oocytes, brain and intestine. Weakly expressed in embryos as early as 21 hpf, and strongly expressed at least up to 7 dpf. The galectin domain, in contrast to the one in mammalian ortholog, is a functional carbohydrate-binding galectin.