CHANGING COLOURS.

Bruce Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 1761, 25 June 1886, Page 6

CHANGING COLOURS.

Many animals are habitually of the colour of the substance on which they rest, so that the species cannot be said to have any colour which is its own. Others change their colours rapidly, the chameleon being a notable instance. We need not, however, seek so far as to a foreign lizard for an example. Our common flatfish may often be seen to undergo such extreme changes as this. Lying on the light sandy bottom of a shallow pool, his entire aspect is of a dark brown with numerous much darker spots. If you approach the pool, the dark fish disappears almost instantly, and yet be has not moved away. He lies where he was before, but has discharged his colour so completely that he matches the sand, and all that can be detected is his two black eyes. If left undisturbed for a few minutes, he regains his dark hue and the darker spots. Our common squid, or cuttlefish, Loligo pealii, is ornamented with great numbers of round spots of an exceedingly rich ; dark, mahogany brown, making it a most conspicuous object; but, if alarmed, tbes spots disappear almost like magic, and the entire animal becomes colourless and nearly iuvisible. And so quickly and freely can this be done that bands and waves of dark and light can be seen running back and forth over its surface.