The Art of Camoflauge
In the blue waters of the open ocean, there is little to hide in. Instead, pelagic animals display countershading coloration (dark color on top, light on bottom, like a tuna or great white shark), to camouflage themselves in the very water they live in. When viewed from above, their dark dorsal side blends in with the dark blue depths of the ocean but when viewed from below, their light, silvery underbelly looks just like the sparkling sunlight waters above.
Although animals that live in Sargassum are considered part of this same open ocean pelagic environment, they display remarkably different color patterns to blend in with their surroundings. Even looking at patches of Sargassum close up, it is extremely hard to discern these species from their habitat. This ideal coloration provides both protection for prey species and camouflage for predators. The following artists depiction shows an extremely accurate view of the hidden diversity found within Sargassum. See how many species you can find! I've listed the answers at the bottom but no peaking!
And the answers are...
This artwork features 11 species of fauna including juvenile loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta), sargassum anglerfish (Histrio histrio), sargassum pipefish (Syngnathus pelagicus), planehead filefish (Stephanolepis hispidus), juvenile sargassum triggerfish (Xanthichthys ringens), sargassum crab (Portunus sayi), sargassum sea slugs (Scyllaea pelagica), sargassum shrimp, sargassum sea spiders, sargassum feather hydroids, and tube worms.
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