Ultra-black Camouflage in Deep-Sea Fishes.

Current Biology : CB
Alexander L DavisKaren J Osborn

Abstract

At oceanic depths >200 m, there is little ambient sunlight, but bioluminescent organisms provide another light source that can reveal animals to visual predators and prey [1-4]. Transparency and mirrored surfaces-common camouflage strategies under the diffuse solar illumination of shallower waters-are conspicuous when illuminated by directed bioluminescent sources due to reflection from the body surface [5, 6]. Pigmentation allows animals to absorb light from bioluminescent sources, rendering them visually undetectable against the dark background of the deep sea [5]. We present evidence suggesting pressure to reduce reflected bioluminescence led to the evolution of ultra-black skin (reflectance <0.5%) in 16 species of deep-sea fishes across seven distantly related orders. Histological data suggest this low reflectance is mediated by a continuous layer of densely packed melanosomes in the exterior-most layer of the dermis [7, 8] and that this layer lacks the unpigmented gaps between pigment cells found in other darkly colored fishes [9-13]. Using finite-difference, time-domain modeling and comparisons with melanosomes found in other ectothermic vertebrates [11, 13-21], we find the melanosomes making up the layer in these ultra-b...Continue Reading

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Citations

Dec 2, 2020·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Tim Caro, Manisha Koneru
Jan 13, 2021·Angewandte Chemie·Ayala LampelRein V Ulijn
Mar 21, 2021·Current Opinion in Genetics & Development·David M Parichy
May 23, 2021·Scientific Reports·Brett C GonzalezKaren J Osborn
Aug 4, 2021·Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·Svana RogallaLiliana D'Alba
Oct 26, 2021·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Sara J WaltonPhillip G Byrne

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