2026-10-12T12:59:54Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/34053300 2026-10-02T04:35:40Z category_62 portal_316 item_type_3 month_year_10_2026

Data Sheet 1_Environmental control of morphological color changes in the Bigfin Reef Squid, Sepioteuthis lessoniana.pdf Annaliese Chang (25161153) Da Eun Kim (5588219) Adina Hoffman (25161156) Zdenek Lajbner (25161159) Jonathan Miller (79680) Sebastian Gaston Alvarado (20568062) Marine Biology chromatophore color change developmental plasticity phenotypic plasticity pigmentation Sepioteuthis lessoniana Introduction<p>Phenotypic plasticity enables organisms to adjust their traits in response to environmental conditions, yet studies of animal coloration, particularly in cephalopods, have largely focused on rapid neural control while overlooking slower changes in the cellular substrate underlying color change. Here, we investigated whether morphological color change contributes to phenotypic plasticity in the bigfin reef squid (Sepioteuthis lessoniana).</p>Methods<p>Hatchlings were reared for 14 weeks in contrasting dark (black) and light (white) environments. Chromatophore organization was quantified at 4, 9, and 14 weeks post-hatching in dorsal and ventral mantle regions using high-resolution brightfield microscopy and automated image analysis. We examined how age, rearing environment, and body region influenced the number and size of black, yellow, and red chromatophores using weighted linear mixed-effects models.</p>Results<p>Chromatophore organization changed substantially across development and was influenced by both environmental context and body region. Black-reared squid maintained higher numbers of black chromatophores, whereas white-reared squid exhibited fewer but generally larger black chromatophores at later developmental stages, revealing an inverse relationship between chromatophore number and size. Yellow chromatophore number also increased in black-reared squid during later development, while yellow and red chromatophore size showed environment-, age-, and region-specific responses. Dorsoventral differences became increasingly pronounced with age, particularly through a decline in ventral black chromatophores, consistent with the development of countershading.</p>Discussion<p>These findings demonstrate that the cellular substrate underlying cephalopod color change is itself phenotypically plastic and is dynamically remodeled across development in response to sustained visual environments. The apparent tradeoff between chromatophore number and size suggests that different environments can produce distinct pigmentary architectures. We propose that this slower morphological plasticity establishes a changing substrate upon which rapid neural control operates, potentially recalibrating the dynamic range of color change across development. Together, these results expand current frameworks of cephalopod coloration by integrating developmental, environmental, and cellular mechanisms across multiple timescales.</p> 2026-10-02T04:35:40Z Dataset Dataset 10.3389/fmars.2026.1862934.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Data_Sheet_1_Environmental_control_of_morphological_color_changes_in_the_Bigfin_Reef_Squid_Sepioteuthis_lessoniana_pdf/34053300 CC BY 4.0