How do marine animals camouflage??

By 

Mayur. M


 Many ocean animals have the amazing ability to camouflage themselves to blend in with their surroundings. This can help animals to protect themselves from predators. Animals like shark, skate or octopus may lay in wait on the ocean bottom, waiting to attack a fish that wanders by. 

Below, let’s take a look at some amazing capability of animals blending in so well with their surroundings.

Instead of changing color some animals like sea urchins, pick up object to hide themselves. It can even use the skeleton of another urchin! Perhaps a passing predator would just think the urchin was part of the rock on the ocean bottom

The tasseled wobbegong can blend in easily with the ocean bottom. These 4-foot long sharks feed on benthic invertebrates and fish. They inhabit reefs and caves in relatively shallow waters in the western Pacific Ocean. It waits patiently on the ocean bottom. As its prey swims by, it can grab the prey before it even suspects the shark is near.

Some snails like Ovulid eats corals and sea fans and avoids its own predators by blending in expertly with its surroundings, as it takes on the pigment of its prey. What could be better than avoiding predators and getting a meal at the same time?


So how do animals achieve camouflage?


There are two basic ways to think about this - first, the animal has particular markings or colors that allow it to blend in with its most "typical" environment. These types of camouflage have evolved over time and are most common in mammals and birds. Even aquatic animals (fish, cetaceans, penguins) use a type of coloration that makes them difficult to be seen - darker on top and lighter underneath. 

The second way that animals achieve camouflage is a more active way - by literally changing the color or pattern of their skin to mimic their surroundings. This happens with animals like chameleons or cephalopods

The function of established camouflage mechanisms can be characterized as interference with the perception of primitive features, edges, surfaces, characteristic features or objects. Approaching camouflage through the perceptual processes it targets provides several benefits compared to the classic approach based on patterns themselves. Overall, it promotes a shift of focus from appearance towards the understanding of mechanistic function of animal coloration.


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