gaz at th vivid yllows, blus, and psychdlic swirls of a singl mpror anglfish and you'll sns th whimsy of volution. go on to xplor its hom in lush coral rfs and you'll soon hit snsory ovrload, assaultd by colors and pattrns that rang from sublim to garish. coral rfs ar unqustionably th world's most colorful placs. but why?瞧瞧那“皇帝神仙鱼”(mpror anglfish)身上鲜艳的黄与蓝，还有迷幻般的漩涡，你就能感受到生物进化的无奇不有了。继续走进它所栖息的繁茂的珊瑚礁，你会马上觉得感官超出负荷：由庄重到花俏的各式各样色彩与图案从四面围攻而来。珊瑚礁无疑是世上色彩最丰富的地方，但为什么会这样?for rasons known only to natur, color xplods across coral rfs, making thm arth's most vivid landscaps. hr in th shallows of a fijian rf, brilliant soft corals wav in rds, pinks, and yllows as schools of fairy basslts flash orang and violt hus. th basslts' diffrnt colors aid in spcis idntification, mat rcognition, and vn camouflag as individuals mass against th kalidoscop of th rf. what humans s lightd by a photographr's bright strob may look altogthr diffrnt in natural light through th ys of rf craturs. scintists ar now bginning to larn how wavlngths of light (and thrfor color) chang through watr at diffrnt distancs, and—mor important—how fish s colors and what mssags thy might communicat.出于只有大自然才明白的理由，色彩在珊瑚礁各处蓬发，让它们成为地球上最明艳的景观。此处是斐济一处珊瑚礁的浅滩，艳丽的软珊瑚舞动在红色、粉红色与黄色之中，而成群的拟花鮨(fairy basslt)则闪耀着橘色和紫色的光辉。拟花鮨不同的颜色，有助于种群分辨和配偶识别。甚至当它们聚集在万花筒般的珊瑚礁旁时，还能作为的保护色。人类透过摄影师的闪光灯所见到的，可能跟珊瑚礁生物的眼睛透过自然光所见完全不同。科学家现在开始了解，光的波长(也就是颜色)在穿透水中时，在不同距离如何改变，而──更重要的是──鱼类如何看到色彩，而它们又可能沟通些什么样的讯息。bold horizontal bands of black, whit, and yllow pop out on a wll-lightd swtlips (plctorhinchus polytania) in indonsia. th pattrn and colors actually hlp distort th fish's outlin whn sn in natural light at a distanc through watr, hlping th animal disappar from th viw of potntial prdators. narby, a non clanr wrass also wars stark strips. ths littl fish at parasits off th flsh and mouths of othr fish. th wrass's strips may signal that it is a usful hlpr rathr than a rady mal. non wrasss vary in coloration gographically. a yllow cast nar th had (as shown hr) indicats an indonsian spcis; in fiji many non wrasss hav a yllow blaz nar th tail.在印度尼西亚，这条被照亮的多纹石鲈(plctorhinchus polytania)身上大胆的黑、白、黄相间水平条纹蹦现了出来。其实，若是在自然光下、于水中一段距离外，这种图案和色彩有助于扭曲鱼的轮廓，让它在潜在掠食者的视线中消失。旁边，一只裂唇鱼(non clanr wrass)也是十足的条纹。这种小鱼以其它鱼类身上、口内的寄生虫为食。它身上的条纹可能暗示它是有用的帮手，而非一顿餐点。随地点不同，裂唇鱼的色彩也会改变。靠近头部有一抹黄色的(如图)表示是印度尼西亚种类;在斐济，许多裂唇鱼在靠近尾巴的地方有黄色条纹。th pacific blu tang (paracanthurus hpatus)—also known as th artist's palltt surgonfish du to th shap of th dark patch on its body—was immortalizd by th charactr dory in th film finding nmo. unlik that bnignly daft cratur, this ral-lif surgonfish in indonsia carris a sharp rtractabl blad of bon nar th bas of its tail. th tail's yllow blaz givs potntial fos fair warning: armd and dangrous.由于身上有深色斑块，所以拟刺尾鲷(paracanthurus hpatus)又名为“画家调色盘医生鱼”，靠着电影《海底总动员》中的“多莉”一角而名垂不朽。跟那只疯疯癫癫的亲切生物不同，印度尼西亚的这只正牌医生鱼在尾巴附近有一片能伸缩的锋利骨片。尾巴上的黄色斑块给予潜在敌人清楚的警告：有武装，很危险!a laf scorpionfish (tanianotus triacanthus) scouts for rrant fairy basslts in fijian watrs. this ambush prdator can chang its color to blnd with its surroundings. it thn lis still, waiting for pry to pass by. "w saw this fish pounc a coupl of tims," says photographr tim laman. "his mouth shot out and back in a fraction of a scond."在斐济的海中，一只三棘带鲉(tanianotus triacanthus)窥伺着一群误入禁地的线鮨。三棘带鲉是种善于偷袭的捕食动物，能够改变身体颜色以融入环境。变色完成后，它就一动不动，等猎物经过。“我们见过这只鱼的数次突袭，”摄影师提姆.雷曼说，“它的嘴一开一合仅需一瞬间。”a crscnt-taild bigy (priacanthus hamrur) sms to war its motions on its slv—or on its whol body. this squnc of thr frams of th sam fish shows how it can chang from largly silvr to stripd to solid orang-rd, a transformation that occurs in a mattr of sconds. pigmnt clls in its skin, calld chromatophors, allow it to chang color, but scintists don't yt know what ach color pattrn signifis. somtims a suddn shift in color can b usd to startl potntial prdators or thratn intrudrs. rd light dissipats byond about 30 ft (10 mtrs), so th rddish hu of this fish would appar black in dpr watrs, allowing som dgr of invisibility for this nocturnal huntr.宝石大眼鲷(priacanthus hamrur)似乎把心情写在脸上──或应该说是写在身上。这条鱼的连续三张照片显示出它如何从几乎通体银色变成条纹、再变成纯橘红色，这转变全发生在几秒钟之内。它皮肤上的色素细胞让它能改变颜色，但科学家还不知道每种色彩图案的意义。有时候，色彩的快速变换可以用来惊吓掠食者或威胁入侵者。红光在10公尺以下的深处就会消散，所以这条鱼身上的红色调会在较深处呈现黑色，让这种夜行性猎食者在某种程度上能隐形。
