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deedo 
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 Topic: coral coloration and light intensity
Posted: February 13 2011 at 12:10am |
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Hello WMAS. It has been a long time since I've posted here.
I have a question for the coral experts.
Certain corals are well known to change color intensity and/or hue under varying lighting conditions. Corals turning brown or pale is due to varying levels of zooxanthellae. Do you guys think that the intensity or hue of the actual coral pigment changes as well? It sure seems that corals acclimated to very intense light appear more brilliant. Can this be entirely due to changes in zooxanthellae?
Thanks!
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"Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins the movie by telling you how it ends. Well, I say there are some things we don't want to know. Important things!" - Ned Flanders
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CapnMorgan
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Posted: February 13 2011 at 12:40am |
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Here is the way I understand it. Zooxanthellae are inherently brown, so when a coral "browns out" due to lack of proper lighting, flow, or excess nutrients you are seeing the zooxanthellae more than the pigment of the coral, because the coral needs more symbiotic algae to sustain itself. If the coral is adapted to more intense lighting, it needs less of the symbiotic algae to sustain itself, so you see the pigment and not the algae.
Edited by CapnMorgan - February 13 2011 at 12:59am
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Steve My Old 180G Mixed ReefCurrently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8
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bur01014
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Posted: February 13 2011 at 2:21am |
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great question...great answer
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Josh95
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Posted: February 13 2011 at 9:30am |
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Agreed. I have Zoanthids in my picotope, they looked good under PC lighting.
Then I put them under more intense LED lighting and now the colors are better and
to me they look more vibrant.
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badfinger
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Posted: February 13 2011 at 9:46am |
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Going off what capn said too.... apparently the color we see is just the reflection of the light bouncing off the coral
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CapnMorgan
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Posted: February 13 2011 at 10:17am |
 badfinger wrote:
Going off what capn said too.... apparently the color we see is just the reflection of the light bouncing off the coral |
You are right Chad, the different pigments reflect different colors. For example, a blue acro contains pigment that absorbs all colors except blue, which it reflects back to us. But the pigmentation of corals is easily overwhelmed by the brown zooxanthellae, just another reason to keep our tanks healthy.
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Steve My Old 180G Mixed ReefCurrently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8
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