Title: Chromatophores and Color Change in Killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus)
Url: http://www.ableweb.org/volumes/vol-26/mini.Hong.pdf
Author: Seung Hong
Malcolm Taylor
Author's Address: University of Delaware, Department of Biological Sciences, DE
Email Address: smhong@udel.edu
Description: This exercise was designed to have students 1) observe a physiological color change in whole
organisms, and 2) correlate the color change (in vivo) with the responses occurring at the cellular
level (in vitro), especially in dermal melanophores. The color change process is relatively fast (30-
45 min) in killifish subjected to a black background, and the time course can be quantified using a
simple color index of 1 - 5. Dermal melanophores are very large and the degree of melanin
dispersion can be easily determined under the dissecting microscope (Hogben and Slome, 1931).
This pre-designed experiment was used as a pilot study prior to a subsequent series of studentdesigned
experiments with an emphasis on mechanisms of physiological color change in animals.
Keywords: melanophore
Topic: Animal Physiology
BEN Subject/Discipline Taxonomy: Physiology
Learning Resource Type: Laboratory exercise (DCMI Type Vocabulary)
Context: Undergraduate lower division 13-14
Undergraduate upper division 15-16
Format: pdf
Access Rights: This resource is open access.
Rights: http://www.ableweb.org/volumes/copyright.htm
Conference Location & Year: Bowling Green State University, Ohio (2004)
Cumulative Rating: NOT YET RATED
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