school report

[ilyn]

i am taking a course (Introduction to Marine Biology) in Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines.
we are required to report on some nice topics about anything under the sea, and i think anything about octopus or squid would be great...
the problem is that i don't know what about them will i choose to report.
please help me have an idea.
thanks a lot!

 

[um...]

I'd do something on chromatophores / body patterning. The topic is quite flexible in terms of breadth and depth, is very important (at least to cephalopods), and is very interesting (at least to me). There's also some great multimedia potential there.

There are some decent links here.

to TONMO.com.

 

[joel_ang]

to TONMO.com !!

Maybe you could do it on a particular species of cephalopod what it eats etc. I also thought on the body patterns of the cephalopods but Um... has already mantioned that.

 

[Burstsovenergy24]

Beaks have interested me.

 

[dbbga]

Um, I just read your link. Very interesting read. I guess that was at a time when i was MIA. Chameleons have a similar coloring tech. Dont they? Would that mean that they evolved from the sea as well? Or just a brian spasm im having

 

[Colin]

i think we all came from there if you go far enough back in time

 

[Burstsovenergy24]

Do chameleons have the same way of changing color as octos?

:?

 

[joel_ang]

I'm not too sure on that but I would think the answer is yes.

 

[Burstsovenergy24]

Then how come it takes so much longer for them to change color?

 

[Nancy]

I think the answer is no. Cephalopods have very sophisticated structures in their skin, making possible the color changes.

They have small sacks of color known as chromatophores that produce yellow, orange, red, brown and black. Most of the color comes from these cells that are controlled by the brain and can be switched on or off very quickly.

Cephs also have leucophores - small structures that reflect and scatter light beams causing them to show white.

Then there are reflective cells called iridophores, responsible for the blue or green iridescent sheen found (such as in the blue ring octopus or Deb's briarius).

Someone else will have to chime in for chameleons, but from what I've seen, change is not so complex and not so rapid.

Nancy

 

[joel_ang]

Well then does anyone have the right answer? Colour changes in chameleons vary in speed, some patterns can take a few seconds while the longest ones can take about a minute.

 

[cthulhu77]

The chromatophores in reptiles work at a much slower rate, due to the thickness of the skin and surrounding tissues...cephs can "flash" colours quickly and specialized subcutaneous musculature can pull the epidermis into intricate shapes as well, further adding to the display...which reptiles can not do!
It would be interesting to prepare a paper describing both systems, and comparing the reptilian chrptp to the ceph's...

Sounds neat...let us know how it goes!
Greg

 

[Colin]

also, ceph skin is under direct brain control

 

[Burstsovenergy24]

Thanks Nancy and cthulhu77!


Carol
Steve
BOE