Octopus uses light-sensitive skin for camouflage
MAY 21, 2015
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.028898
New Scientist : Many octopi have the ability to camouflage themselves by changing pigments in their skin. In one species, the ability has now been shown to be the result of light-sensitive cells in the octopus’s skin. Desmond Ramirez and Todd Oakley of the University of California at Santa Barbara took samples of the skin of the California two-spot octopus and exposed them to light and within six second the brown spots the octopus uses for camouflage appeared. The pigment change is controlled by muscle cells that stretch sacs of pigment called chromatophores and is triggered by a protein called r-opsin that is also present in the octopus’s eyes.
© 2015 American Institute of Physics
