Red frogs, blue spiders, yellow snakes, green birds, orange fish, purple snails, pink armadillos – animals can be surprisingly colorful. Like all living things, bright or dull, these creatures try to survive in a world that can be difficult and dangerous. If an animal is very colorful, it is likely that its brilliant skin, scales, or feathers somehow help it stay alive.
Red says…
It must have been something I ate.
The scarlet ibis is a long-legged wading bird. The intense color of its feathers comes from the red shells of the shrimp, crabs, and insects it eats.
Step Carefully.
The stonefish is the most poisonous fish in the world. It lives in shallow tropical seas and looks like a lumpy rock or piece of corals as it lies quietly on the ocean floor. Along its back are thirteen sharp, venom-filled spines that protect it from predators. A careless swimmer who steps on a stonefish receives a very painful stab and can die without treatment.
Blue says…
Don’t touch!
The tiny poison dart frog eats ants, and the toxins these insects contain accumulate in the frog’s body. This gentle amphibian does not attack humans, but the skin of one frog contains enough poison to kill dozens of people. Native hunters in the jungles of South America rub the tips of their arrows and darts on the frog’s skin.
You can look right through me.
The Portuguese man-of-war appears to be a large jellyfish, but it is really a colony of thousands of smaller animals called polyps. Named after an eighteenth-century sailing ship, the man-of-war drifts on the surface of the sea, pushed along by the wind. It snares fish and other animals with long, poisonous tentacles that are hard to see in the blue water. A transparent blue body helps keep it hidden from sea turtles that find it tasty.
Yellow says…
Boo!
When the huge Madagascar moon moth opens its wings, it reveals a yellow “face” with colorful spots – called eyespots – that look like the eyes of a much larger animal. A surprised predator may think that it has attacked an owl or other dangerous creature instead of a defenseless insect.
Just ignore me.
The trumpet fish is a sneaky predator that uses trickery to catch its prey. This long, thin fish can change color to match its surroundings. Sometimes it hovers its head down in the water, imitating a coral or seaweed. Another of its tricks is to swim very near a larger, harmless fish. When it gets close enough to its victim, the trumpet fish darts forward and sucks up its prey like a vacuum cleaner.
Green says…
It’s really not my color.
The giant green anemone looks like a flower, but it’s actually a predatory animal with poisonous tentacles. It lives in shallow water and tidal pools found along rocky seacoasts. The anemone’s body is colorless and transparent. It tissues, however, are home to millions of green algae. These tiny plants help provide food and oxygen to the anemone. In return, the anemone gives the algae a place to live.
Look again…
The delicate leafy sea dragon looks almost exactly like a bit of floating seaweed. It takes a very close look to realize that this relative of the seahorse is, in fact, a fish.
Orange says…
Colorful copy.
The orange pygmy seahorse looks almost exactly like the tropical coral on which it makes its home. This little fish is not much bigger than your fingernail. When it hovers in the water it is very difficult to see.
Real men dance.
The male cock-of-the-rock is one of the most colorful of all birds. It prepares and defends a special courting ground in the forest, called a lek (leck). Here, several male birds perform an elaborate dance, all competing for the attention of a single female. She will choose the male whose dance she likes best.
Purple says…
I’m just a bunch of bubbles.
The violet raft snail blows a “raft” of sticky bubbles, using them to float along on the surface of the ocean. This snail is a predator, eating the tentacles of any jellyfish it bumps into. The bubbles and the snail’s purple color protect it by making it look like a bit of drifting sea foam.
Move toward the light…
The deep-sea dragonfish is about the length of a pencil, but the barbell growing from its chin can be as long as a full-grown man is tall. This dragonfish has a glowing purple light on the end if this whip-like filament and a row of glowing purple lights on either side of its body. In the total darkness of the deep ocean, these lights flash on and off to signal other dragonfish and attract prey.
excerpts from Living Color by Steve Jenkins
