A study that measures the spectral reflectance of blue layer animals would provide interesting insight to the selective
pressures that may have lead to their convergence on the colour blue. Some brightly coloured colonial bryozoans have blue compounds within their tissues such as the blue tetrapyrrol pigment found in Bugula denata (Matsunaga, Fusetani & Hashimoto, 1996). This pigment has antimicrobial properties against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, but the source of the blue pigment (whether self-generated or sequestered) is unknown. Similarly an unidentified ascidian (Chordata: Urochordata) from the west coast of Australia also possesses a blue pigment that is likely to have Cell Cycle inhibitor an antimicrobial function. Kazlauskas et al. (1982) showed that the blue pigment from the west Australian ascidian has ‘strong biological activity’. No further description was given and the pigment’s Regorafenib purchase function was not tested directly, but such pigments could be indicative of physiological processes such as a by-product of a physiological function. Many hypotheses have been invoked to explain
animal colouration. These are broadly categorized as either signalling or non-signalling functions. Blue colours have great potential to function in non-signalling roles such as aiding in physiological processes like thermoregulation and protection from harmful solar radiation. However, there is, extremely limited evidence that blue colours function in this way. It is unclear whether researchers are testing these hypotheses, but arriving at null results that are subsequently not published or whether these hypotheses are rarely tested. Many studies
have tested the role of blue colours in signalling and some classic examples of signalling have arisen from these studies (e.g. blue-footed boobies, stain bower birds). But because most taxa can perceive blue, blues may be useful as signals in many species or as broadcast signals to multiple receivers. We may predict for example that a blue signal could simultaneously attract mates and protect from overheating by reflect high energy blue solar irradiance. Because blue colours have the potential to function in several most ways simultaneously, multiple hypotheses must be tested if the function of a colour patch is to be understood. To fully extract the function of a colour as a signal, we must understand the mechanism of colour production, what physiological processes a colour’s reflectance may influence, the context in which the signal is sent, the visual capacity of the receiver, the light in the environment in which the colour is displayed and how the behavioural response of the receiver changes when the colour shifts. Clearly, elucidating the function of colouration is a multifaceted problem. Colour research in different disciplines (such as chemistry, physics and biology) has progressed for many years, sometimes in parallel with, but often in isolation from one another.