Aquameleon

In honor of Cateblepon's Unofficial Fauna Challenge

The deep ocean is full of hundreds of vibrant and beautiful colors. One of the creatures making these colors is the Aquameleon. It is a beautfully strange creature that is known for changing colors at a rapid pace, whether it be for mating, fighting, or warning.

The Aquameleon is more commonly called "white fish" because its scales are mainly seen as a pearly-white. This is because the "default color setting" of the chromophores, molecules responsible for color, is a color extremely similar to white.

An Aquameleon has hundreds if not thousands of different chromophores in its cells. It can control the chromophores in the cells because of a strange gene mutation that sometimes happens when breeding.

This mutation is not at all common and is extremely rare. However, there are several mutated Aquameleon's in captivity being studied by scientists.

Basic Information

Anatomy

A non-mutated Aquameleon's lower half consists of ten long and slender tentacles and the upper half is a long, wide, and thick eel-like body with fins and the head of a fish. In other words a combination of an jellyfish, an eel, and a fish. Their scales have a pearly color. Mutated Aquameleon's have the same body, but with pure white scales.

And although the creatures when described may seem ulgy, they are actually some of the most elegant creatures in the oceans.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

A non-mutated Aquameleon can change colors but not nearly as quickly as the mutated type. It takes about a full minute to completely change colors. However to make up for that the non-mutated Aquameleon has much stronger, tougher scales and are known for having faster reflexes than it's mutated kind.

A mutated Aquameleon can change colors faster than a person can blink and stay in hiding much more than the non-mutated kind. They also have much softer, more flexible scales. And these flexible scales are one of the reasons for a mutated Aquameleon's color changing abilities.

How It Works

A non-mutated Aquameleon can change colors two ways. The first is using the brain to send the signals to the chromophores via nerves. The creatures will "think" the color and the brain will signal the nerves and the chromophores will start to slowly change color. The second is using hormones. If a non-mutated Aquameleon gets startled the brain will release a certain hormone sending it throughout the body causing the chromophores to react and change colors. Generally speaking a non-mutated Aquameleon can change colors in both of these way.

A mutated Aquameleon has the abilty to change colors in the ways previously mentioned, but it takes much longer and is definitely not as effiecient. The way a mutated Aquameleon changes colors is by stretching its brain.

A mutated Aquameleon has the ability to stretch its brain through its body allowing it to reach many of the chromophores faster, therefore causing them to change faster.