Tropical coral reefs like the Australian Great Barrier Reef are among the most colorful habitats in the world. However, the diversity in color still puzzles scientists: Why exactly do coral reefs host so many colorful organisms such as corals, crustaceans and fish?

The dusky dottyback (Pseudochromis fuscus), a small predatory fish that is found throughout the Indo-Pacific, occurs in many different colorations and has the peculiar ability to be able to change its body coloration. Why dottybacks vary in coloration and why they are able to change their color has long remained a secret.

An international research team led by evolutionary biologists Dr. Fabio Cortesi and Prof. Walter Salzburger from the University of Basel has now been able to explain why dottybacks adopt different colors. So far, it had been assumed that the color variety is genetically determined, meaning that the different colored dottybacks had likely adapted to their respective habitat background or that coloration was sexually determined. The zoologists were now able to show that dottybacks can actively change their color in a relatively short amount of time. Their goal: to mimic other fish species in their surroundings in order to prey on their juvenile offspring.