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The principle of "maximum disruptive contrast" in Hugh Cott's 1940 Adaptive Coloration in Animals, "showing the distractive effect upon the eye of patterns which contrast as violently as possible with the tone of their background". [1] The examples are of a fish, an antelope, and a bird.
Close-up of fish melanophores. Fish coloration is produced through specialized cells called chromatophores. The dermal chromatophore is a basic color unit in amphibians, reptiles, and fish which has three cell layers: "the xanthophore (contains carotenoid and pteridine pigments), the iridophore (reflects color structurally), and the melanophore (contains melanin)". [5]
Garibaldi are deep-bodied, or laterally compressed fish, covered in coarse scales. They have a single dorsal fin with about 12 spines and 16 rays. [4] Adult fish in this species are uniformly bright orange in color. It is the largest member of the damselfish family and can grow up to 35.6 cm (14.02 in) in length.
Disruptive coloration. Cott argues with diagrams, drawings, photographs and examples that animals are often extremely effectively disruptively patterned. He analyses the component effects of disruption, including "differential blending" and "maximum disruptive contrast". Cott's figure 7 is a set of nine drawings, arranged as a 3x3 table.
It is used alongside other forms of camouflage including colour matching and disruptive coloration. [18] Among predatory fish, the gray snapper, Lutianus griseus, is effectively flattened by its countershading, while it hunts an "almost invisible" prey, the hardhead silverside, Atherina laticeps which swims over greyish sands. [19]
Sepia officinalis changes color to match the substrate by disruptive patterning (contrast to break up the outline), whereas S. pharaonis matches the substrate by blending in. Although camouflage is achieved in different ways, and in an absence of color vision, both species change their skin colors to match the substrate.
Gibbonsia elegans is found in various color morphs; mainly red, brown or green. The spotted kelpfish has disruptive coloration that resembles military camouflage patterning–dark, broken, vertical bars against a background of one or two colors. This patterning extends into the dorsal and pelvic fins and covers the entire surface of the fish's ...
Structural coloration can produce the most brilliant colours, often iridescent. [52] For example, the blue/green gloss on the plumage of birds such as ducks, and the purple/blue/green/red colours of many beetles and butterflies are created by structural coloration. [55] Animals use several methods to produce structural colour, as described in ...