Color of Hawaiian and Deep-Water Fish

[curlykid]

Has anyone ever noticed that most shallow-water Hawaiian fish have the same recurring colors? That orangish-rusty color with purple or dark blue? (Potter's angel, Potter's Leopard Wrasse, Chevron Tang) Another one of these color-similarities is in deep-water fish. Nearly every single one of these fish has a combination of pink, purple, orange, or yellow. (Candy basslet, various anthias, neptune grouper, gramma dejongi, lipogramma klayi, etc etc etc.) Has there been any research on this subject? Want to chime in? Please do reply.

 

[philter4]

I know it has to do with different factorsbut basically fish see colors better and more vividly then humans do so colors are more intense to them but at the same time the water cuts out different wavelengths as you go deeper so the color is not visible no matter what the fish eyes are capable of seeing. In shallow water red/orange/yellow are the first to be cut so in a fish these colors appear brown allowing the fish to blend in better. The same is true for deep water fish, many are bright reds and red-yellow combos because at depth they appear black and can hide better in the darker water. Blue and purple are the last colors to go so a fish that wants to display to it's reef mates must have those colors or they can't see each other beyond about 40 or 50 feet.