Rafael Duarte, researcher at CESAM and the Department of Biology (DBio), a specialist in animal ecology and physiology, authors an article in Nature on the metabolic costs of colour change in octopuses.
Recognised for his expertise and contributions to the study of animal pigmentation and colouration, Rafael Duarte was invited by Nature to write an article for the News & Views section. In it, he analyses a study recently published in the journal PNAS, titled High Energetic Cost of Colour Change in Octopuses. This study demonstrated that a 100-gram octopus expends almost as much energy to change its colour as it does to sustain its entire resting metabolism.
This discovery helps explain why octopuses use colour change only when essential, directly influencing their behaviour and ecology. Rafael Duarte’s article highlights the importance of research into the energetic costs of biological adaptations and how this knowledge can deepen our understanding of the evolutionary and physiological processes of organisms with complex chromatic adaptations.
You can access Rafael Duarte’s article here.