ATJ
Premium Member
Basic light theory says that objects that appear blue, for example, are reflecting the blue wavelength back and absorbing the other colors.Originally posted by cschumaker
To be more accurate, an object may appear blue because it is reflecting MORE blue light than other wavelengths, but it does not mean that it is reflecting ALL blue light. It may also appear blue because of the light that is hitting it. For example, place a white piece of paper under actinic lighting and it will appear blue. Finally, something may appear blue due to a blue fluorescent pigment (although some researchers would argue that blue fluorescent pigments do not exist. A fluorescent pigment absorbs light at one wavelength and emits it at a longer wavelength.
I imagine this would mean that the coral is using the other colors of the spectrum for photosynthesis and not using the blue.
Absorption of light does not mean that the light is being used for photosynthesis, but rather it is not being reflected. Does a blue damsel use all wavelengths of light other than blue?
I do know there has been studies done on photosynthesis that shows that plants use red and yellow light for photosynthesis and not green.
I'm not aware of any studies that show that plants use yellow light to any great extent. Chlorophyll a, the most widely used photosynthetic pigment, has absorption peaks at around 450nm (right in the middle of blue) and 680nm (red), and these two colours are most used by photosynthetic organisms. Chlorophyll b] has peaks around 490nm (blue but heading towards green) and 650nm (red). Of course various accessory pigments can fill in the gaps between these peaks and allow plants and algae to utilise a wider spectrum of light.
Studies into the absorption and action spectra of isolated zooxanthellae show they absorb and utilise light from around 390nm to just under 700nm, which is pretty much the whole range of visible light. There are peaks around 450nm (blue) and 680nm (red) and so the zooxanthellae are more efficient at utilising light around these wavelengths. There are multiple strains of zooxanthellae found in corals both within coral species and between coral species. This may mean some variance in the absorption and action spectra between the zooxanthellae strains, but most evidence suggests that the differences affect the height of the peaks rather than the wavelengths of those peaks.
The symbiotic zooxanthellae, which are responsible for photosynthesis, are largely a golden brown colour. Any other colours seen in the coral come from pigments produced by the coral itself. The purpose of the pigments is not clearly understood but it has been suggested that many of them are photoprotective. If a blue pigment is photoprotective, it is likely that the pigment simply reduces the amount of blue light reaching the zooxanthellae to reduce the photosynthetic activity. This would be important for a coral in shallow water under full Sunlight where excess photosynthetic activity could be dangerous to the coral.
Another important point is that there are many different colours found in symbiotic corals but their zooxanthellae will largely have the same spectral requirements of light. The colours of the corals may have little or no influence on the light used by the zooxanthellae for photosynthesis, other than what is mentioned above. For example, I have seen blue and beige colour morphs of Pocillopora verrucosa sitting side by side under the exact same lighting conditions.
In summary:
a) I don't think you can make assumptions about the spectral requirements of a coral just from its apparent colour.
b) Blue light has been shown to be important in the photosynthesis of zooxanthellae.