Extended Data Fig. 8: Chromatophores change colour from light to dark as they age.
From: Elucidating the control and development of skin patterning in cuttlefish
A gallery of aligned patches of skin centred on the position of chromatophore insertion is shown. Top, juvenile animal, 7 days old on the first day of observation (D1). Left-most column shows skin pre-chromatophore-birth. Over approximately 19 days, chromatophores that first appear pale yellow darken progressively, transitioning to orange and red, before finally turning black. Field of views (FOVs): from around 150 × 150 μm on day 1 of observation to 300 × 300 μm on day 25 of observation. Bottom, adult animal, 105 days old on day 1 of observation. Rows show chromatophores undergoing a similar light–dark colour transition as in the juvenile (top), but at a much slower rate. FOVs: around 200 × 200 μm (nonlinear alignment). Examples were chosen from aligned skin patches containing around 100 chromatophores.
