Why are Wild Red Devils brightly colored?

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So if sun plays such a role, what is the explanation on ones with explosive reds that have never seen sun?

Or if an amphilophus is exposed to sun it turns red then generations down the line even if its offsprings offspring and so forth don't see sun it is because of its "Great great great granddaddy" and how it was exposed to Sun?
 
No one said that they were caught hundreds of feet down, Matt, nor am I arguing that fish kept outdoors can look better than fish kept indoors. But I think that you missed the point. Read the papers I linked to, Barlow et al explain the different color morphs and what depths they are typically found. Only small juvies are typically found in the shallows. That, and there are many examples of amphs that are kept in captivity that almost glow in the dark, and are never exposed to sunlight. Zero exposure. Such as Tom's (Aquanero) male, which I believe had only a 5,000K white light over him in that photo, or as Tom said he was too bright to look at.

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I've owned creamsicles where the orange was even more intense than that, and again, zero exposure to UV rays. I've seen plenty more here on MFK over the years. Would they look better outside, and gain even more color, maybe, maybe not, but genetics is what determines the eventual mature color of the fish, more than all other factors combined



And as far as losing their color in captivity, yes it can happen for reasons already explained, but also keep in mind that most of the fish imported are smaller, semi adult specimens, not full grown 5 yr old 10-12+inch fish. Many of the amphs being imported are still morphing in color as they mature, some actually gain color in captivity. See post #6 by Chris (cchhcc) for an example of that.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...Rapps-photographic-library-of-wild-red-devils
 
This has turned into one of the most informational posts I have seen in a while...If I may say so myself ;) haah

Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch Q using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
Amphs in the wild are born in relativly shallow water. They all have subdued colors as camaflage against preditors. Barred fish remain in relativly shallow water where the barred pattern serves to hide them from both predators and prey. Red/Orange fish inhabit the depths where the red color hides them at depth. After 30 ft red wavelenghts can not pnatrate so red fish are black in deeper water. It is my beleaf that the red color or lack of it is genetic, genitic as far as wild fish are concerned who knows what has been bread together in aquaria. Successful fish breed together to insure the survival of the species so the most successful genes are passed on from generation to generation.

This was Psycho as a baby. No indication of what he would grow into.

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CANAMONSTER said:
So if sun plays such a role, what is the explanation on ones with explosive reds that have never seen sun?

Or if an amphilophus is exposed to sun it turns red then generations down the line even if its offsprings offspring and so forth don't see sun it is because of its "Great great great granddaddy" and how it was exposed to Sun?
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the color is naturally genetically there if the fish got the genes of that color. Depends on how you view the fish and on what day/mood. U can put light behind the fader or in front making a difference. I think an already colorful fish, can be even better with some sunlight. imo

And age ; they do collect color richness and density with time. I think Sunlight helps them absorb that and also warms their internal system to their perfect functional temp so they feel good look good.

You take one of them and put in a cold tank, all that be gone real quick
 
Guys - I'm not making this up...

http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=4113

Does the artificial light effect the pigment of the goldfish? If so, how long do you thing it will take to the goldfish to change color?
Answer 1:
Pigment in goldfish is found in pigment-producing cells called chromatophores, including xanthophores (containing yellow pigment) and erythrophores (containing red pigment). When fish are outdoors, they will receive ultraviolet light (including UVA and UVB light) from the sun. UVA and UVB are both high-energy light, and can be harmful to organisms, however, pigments can provide some protection from this, and ultraviolet light stimulates the chromatophores to produce more pigment. Artificial lights usually only provide a limited spectrum of light compared to sunlight and usually do not produce ultraviolet light. This means that over time, goldfish chromatophores exposed to artificial light will produce less pigment and the goldfish will look paler in color.

The UV light not only impacts the amount of pigments produced, but also the density of the pigments or how spread out in the cell they are, which also affects the coloration of the fish. This response is pretty rapid, so you might notice that when you turn on your fish tank light in the morning, the fish may look paler, but will look more vibrant later in the day.

The coloration of the fish is also due to which pigments are expressed in which combinations, so the type of artificial light may impact the balance of the pigment color types and therefore the overall color of the fish over time. The food the goldfish eats will also affect its color; most goldfish diets contain natural pigments called carotenoids and the amount and type the fish eats will impact the color of the chromatophores.

The longer a fish is away from natural sunlight, and the type of artificial light it receives, as well as the type of food it eats, will all impact the degree the color of the fish will change, and how long this process will take. As the chromatophores die, if they are not replaced by other similar chromatophores, the color of the fish will change. These effects can be observed in some fish in less than 30 days.
 
No one said that you made anything up, Matt. Did you even read my last post? We aren't talking about goldfish and UV rays, we are talking about a specific species of fish that within the "gold" color morph of that species, does not live at a depth of turbid water where it will receive any UV rays.

What part of that don't you understand?
 
Yea its the deep dark water. A lot of deep sea dwellers are red pigmented and are almost invisible to predators that deep because red light doesn't go that deep. Turn on a red light though and they glow !
 
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