Ricordea changes colors?

[mschrissygil]

We have a bunch of ricordea in all different colors...but this one is weird. It changes colors...not just slightly, either. It's green with a purple rim during the day and then orange with a blue rim at night. Why? My other oranges are orange all of the time, the greens are green, and the purples are purple.

 

[ajnweb]

Wow, very cool. Does it show these different colors under the same lights, or just when the actinics come on at night? It be the actinics bringing out different colors?

 

[Myteemouse]

I have that same RIC.. very cool..

 

[mschrissygil]

Wow, very cool. Does it show these different colors under the same lights, or just when the actinics come on at night? It be the actinics bringing out different colors?

Yep it happens with the lights...halide and t5ho during the day and then just the t5ho in the evening. It's not just a hint like other corals, though. It's a totally different color.

 

[mschrissygil]

I have that same RIC.. very cool..

Awesome! Do any of your other rics change at all or is this just a crazy morph? I never really noticed until recently because I had another ric rock in front of it that I moved over to the other tank.

 

[luisse25]

i have a regular ricordea yuma,brown color at daytime but at at night with led on its kind of neon blue teal color i dont know how to describe..then the babies have purple pinkish color..weird,i like their colors at night.

 

[cindywhip]

mine sure does sometimes orange sometimes neon green and sometimes both.and boy does he glow in the dark.....

 

[Myteemouse]

No my other rics don't do it but I only have three different types right now

 

[mnewby]

its to do with the clorifile in the tissue the atinic high lights it and makes it stand out the other probly have less so they dont stand out the same

 

[gloo]

I thought Chrolophyll was always green, but zooxanthalae was more of a brown algae (dinoflag.). But corals aren't always green or brown, so I wonder if it there are other pigments that come into play or the way light reflects off the tissue surface.

Anyone know what gives coral their colors?

 

[Herefishyfishy]

The first and fastest growing zooxanthellae in corals, clams and the like is indeed the brown and it's main color. This is why when a coral "browns out" that color becomes predominant. The other colors as determined by genetic code are part oif the corals tissue and help protect/guard against too much light. These can take longer to develop and thus how a browned out coral will color up under good lighting with time.
Most colors in coral tissue are called pocilloporin and are either Brightly Colored Low Fluorescent Pocilloporins or Highly Fluorescent Pocilloporins. Highly Fluorescent Pocilloporin pigments have the ability to absorb light with a specific wavelength and then shine the color or emit this light into a different wavelength. Most of the highly flourescent variety act as UV protecters. Some non-fluorescent proteins also provide coloration.

You can do a google search for Dana Riddle who has written vast tomes of data on this subject.

 

[gloo]

Ah, thank you very much for that info! I'll have to check out the captive reef.