Fish Color
- Thread starter oceankid
- Start date
scottnlisa
Member
Saltwater fish not sure. But I know with some freshwater fish, people inject color into the fish to make them more eye appealing.
R
rcreations
Guest
Genetics.
beachblue
New Member
Lots of reasons, actually. Color (or skin pigmentation) acts as a protectant against elements to a certain degree, but also is a signal for fish to be able to recognize like or unlike species...friend or foe. Most (daytime active) fish have excellent color vision, and use it as a primary means to interpret their surroundings and identity of other fish. I have also read that many species of animals, and quite likely fish, are able to see in spectrums that we do not, so perhaps they see things very differently than we do.
The colorful patterns that we are so attracted to in our SW fish also serve as camoflage, breaking up the outline of the fish and making it more difficult for a would be predator to get a "fix" on it. This is especially true when there is a large group of patterned fish, it's hard to pick out an individual.
Color "changes" according to the depth of water the fish is in (Color is really just light), so a fish that appears brightly visible in our shallow aquariums designed for side viewing may be nearly invisible in ten or twenty feet of ocean.
There's more to it than this, and my brief explaination is very simplified ... sometimes I think God just likes to make things beautiful....lucky for us.
As for the henious practice of injecting color into freshwater fish.... AAAHHHHGGGGGGHHHH! Aren't they lovely enough that we don't have to tattoo stupid hearts onto them?
The colorful patterns that we are so attracted to in our SW fish also serve as camoflage, breaking up the outline of the fish and making it more difficult for a would be predator to get a "fix" on it. This is especially true when there is a large group of patterned fish, it's hard to pick out an individual.
Color "changes" according to the depth of water the fish is in (Color is really just light), so a fish that appears brightly visible in our shallow aquariums designed for side viewing may be nearly invisible in ten or twenty feet of ocean.
There's more to it than this, and my brief explaination is very simplified ... sometimes I think God just likes to make things beautiful....lucky for us.
As for the henious practice of injecting color into freshwater fish.... AAAHHHHGGGGGGHHHH! Aren't they lovely enough that we don't have to tattoo stupid hearts onto them?
ibanez
Member
Originally Posted by Daftboy
http:///forum/post/3262026
Chuck Norris
Thats right, they are in fact just creatures Chuck Norris allows to live.
http:///forum/post/3262026
Chuck Norris
Thats right, they are in fact just creatures Chuck Norris allows to live.
oceankid
Member
Originally Posted by beachblue
http:///forum/post/3261878
Lots of reasons, actually. Color (or skin pigmentation) acts as a protectant against elements to a certain degree, but also is a signal for fish to be able to recognize like or unlike species...friend or foe. Most (daytime active) fish have excellent color vision, and use it as a primary means to interpret their surroundings and identity of other fish. I have also read that many species of animals, and quite likely fish, are able to see in spectrums that we do not, so perhaps they see things very differently than we do.
The colorful patterns that we are so attracted to in our SW fish also serve as camoflage, breaking up the outline of the fish and making it more difficult for a would be predator to get a "fix" on it. This is especially true when there is a large group of patterned fish, it's hard to pick out an individual.
Color "changes" according to the depth of water the fish is in (Color is really just light), so a fish that appears brightly visible in our shallow aquariums designed for side viewing may be nearly invisible in ten or twenty feet of ocean.
There's more to it than this, and my brief explaination is very simplified ... sometimes I think God just likes to make things beautiful....lucky for us.
As for the henious practice of injecting color into freshwater fish.... AAAHHHHGGGGGGHHHH! Aren't they lovely enough that we don't have to tattoo stupid hearts onto them?
Wow, very well said
thank you for explaining!
http:///forum/post/3261878
Lots of reasons, actually. Color (or skin pigmentation) acts as a protectant against elements to a certain degree, but also is a signal for fish to be able to recognize like or unlike species...friend or foe. Most (daytime active) fish have excellent color vision, and use it as a primary means to interpret their surroundings and identity of other fish. I have also read that many species of animals, and quite likely fish, are able to see in spectrums that we do not, so perhaps they see things very differently than we do.
The colorful patterns that we are so attracted to in our SW fish also serve as camoflage, breaking up the outline of the fish and making it more difficult for a would be predator to get a "fix" on it. This is especially true when there is a large group of patterned fish, it's hard to pick out an individual.
Color "changes" according to the depth of water the fish is in (Color is really just light), so a fish that appears brightly visible in our shallow aquariums designed for side viewing may be nearly invisible in ten or twenty feet of ocean.
There's more to it than this, and my brief explaination is very simplified ... sometimes I think God just likes to make things beautiful....lucky for us.
As for the henious practice of injecting color into freshwater fish.... AAAHHHHGGGGGGHHHH! Aren't they lovely enough that we don't have to tattoo stupid hearts onto them?
Wow, very well said
thank you for explaining!