Open-ocean fish reveal an omnidirectional solution to camouflage in polarized environments
Abstract
Unlike coastal regions and reefs, the open ocean is mostly empty. Many fish species, nonetheless, spend most of their lives there. Such emptiness makes camouflage exceedingly difficult, so how does an organism hide in water filled with bouncing and reflected light? Brady et al. show that some families of fish have evolved skin that reflects and polarizes light, allowing them to blend into their mirrorlike conditions more easily. These results help to explain the silvery coloration found in sea-living fish across the world's oceans.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Nov 20, 2015
- Source ID
- 10.1126/science.aad5284
Entities
People
- Alberto Tonizzo
- Alexander A. Gilerson
- Amir Ibrahim
- Brandon J. Russell
- Carlos Carrizo
- George W. Kattawar
- Heidi M. Dierssen
- James M. Sullivan
- Kathryn Mislinski
- Kort Travis
- Meng Gao
- Michael S. Twardowski
- Molly E. Cummings
- Parrish C. Brady
- Robert Ian Etheredge
- Shulei Zhao
- Yalong Gu
Organizations
- City College of New York
- Florida Atlantic University
- Office of Naval Research
- University of Connecticut
- University of Texas at Austin