A marine paradise underneath Mexico City: Inbursa Aquarium.
I enjoyed visiting this place so much. Four underground levels
where you can see over 15,000 varieties from 300 species! Not easy when Mexico City
is quite far from the sea.
I saw sharks, manta rays, penguins, and other fish I had
never seen before. However, my younger self wanted to find Dory. I was not the
only one though. All these kids were also wondering where Dory was. After
looking through many fish tanks, we finally spotted her!
I did not have a clue what kind of fish Dory was. Something
I learned from my visit was that Dory (Paracanthurus hepatus) is a surgeonfish. They have other names like the regal tang or
blue tang.
One thing I love about Dory is her colours. What makes Dory
have such a beautiful blue body with a black stripe and a yellow tail?
Dory’s blue colour is due to the reflection of blue
wavelengths from the surface of her body. If you zoom in on the surface, you will
find cells called iridophores, which in turn contain tiny crystals that reflect
the light. These crystals are called reflective platelets.
Apart from blue, Dory has a yellow tail and a black stripe.
The colour in these cases is not due to reflective platelets but to the
presence of cells that make pigments: Xanthophores make the yellow and melanophores make the black.
Colours in animals help them to adapt to their environment.
For example, they can change colour to match the background and hide from
predators, or they can display their colours to attract a partner. So how can
animals change their colours?
Colour changing is known as physiological colour change.
It happens when the pigments inside the cells move. For example, the
melanophores contain the black pigment called melanin. If melanin is properly
distributed within the cells, the skin colour is black, but when melanin
aggregates the skin turns paler. In the case of iridophores, which don’t have
any pigments, the reflective platelets change their angles to reflect the light
in another way.
Wow, isn't Dory amazing?
Oh! And don't forget to visit the aquarium if you go to Mexico City.You’ll
love it!
References: