![\"Sierra](\"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/sensoryecology\/files\/2015\/04\/dark-chichlid-300x190.jpg\")
Dark morph cichlid (www.cichlidforums.com)<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"gold](\"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/sensoryecology\/files\/2015\/04\/gold-chichlid-300x208.jpg\")
Gold morph cichlid (animal-world.com)<\/p><\/div>\n
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What were\u00a0their hypotheses?<\/strong><\/p>\n Research has shown that darker individuals are able to alter their color shade to blend in with certain backgrounds, but little research has been done directly comparing background matching ability between dark and gold individuals. The researchers expected that, due to their greater genetic prevalence within the population, dark individuals would be better at changing their body color to blend in with their environment, leading to reduced predation rates. They also predicted\u00a0that gold individuals would not posses the same ability to successfully camouflage with their background.<\/p>\n What did they learn?<\/strong><\/p>\n During the study, the researchers observed the color changing ability of dark, gold, and mottled (mixed color) individuals from the same population when placed in tanks with either light or dark backgrounds. They found that the genetically dark individuals were consistently able to alter their body shade to match either light or dark backgrounds. This result supported their hypothesis and also was consistent with past research performed on dark morph individuals. Though their color matching was not perfect, it did show a compromise strategy that would allow the dark individuals to quickly match a range of different background colors while swimming through a more mixed colored environment.<\/p>\n Dark morph cichlid against light background (animal-world.com)<\/p><\/div>\n Contrary to the dark individuals, the genetically gold and mottled red devil fish did not show a successful ability to adjust their body color to match the background. In fact, they surprisingly showed the opposite tendency of brightening their color against dark backgrounds and dimming it against light ones. This result supports the researchers\u2019 hypothesis\u00a0and suggests that though lighter colored individuals are able to change their body color, it is not used to become less conspicuous.<\/p>\n Gold morph cichlid against dark background (pangaeabio.com)<\/p><\/div>\n Why does it matter?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The results from this study shed light on the question of why gold morph individuals are far less prevalent than their dark counterparts in their native lakes. Though the gold individuals posses some beneficial fitness traits of size, dominance, and a sexy bright color, the tradeoff with a far more conspicuous body color and the inability to camouflage ultimately greatly reduces their reproductive success. \u00a0It is imperative to study color polymorphisms because they hold a lot of ecological significance and are extremely important when it comes to genetic variation in populations. Body color provides an extremely important visual signal to mates and predators, so it is critical for us to be aware why major differences within a given population\u2019s coloration may exist. \u00a0The red devil cichlid provides a fascinating example of a species whose color morph is very relevant to the individuals\u2019 ability to thrive in different environments.<\/p>\n To learn more about this study, you can take a look at the following article:<\/p>\n Color polymorphisms are an interesting phenomenon especially when considered in the field of sensory ecology. A polymorphism is when two or more related traits appear within a single mating population, and in many cases this is seen as individuals expressing … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/sensoryecology\/files\/2015\/04\/dark-blended-chichlid.jpeg\")
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