Enables retinal binding activity and retinal dehydrogenase activity. Involved in several processes, including gland development; response to vitamin A; and retinoic acid biosynthetic process. Located in cytosol and perinuclear region of cytoplasm. Orthologous to human ALDH1A2 (aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A2). [provided by Alliance of Genome Resources, Apr 2022]