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Animals Whose Colors Come From Ingested Pigments

Animals whose color comes from the foods they eat include saltwater and freshwater fish and wading birds. The brine shrimp, spirulina algae and small crustaceans these fish and birds feed upon depend on a healthy ocean ecosystem. Threats to that ecosystem, such as oil spills and habitat destruction, result in a loss of the brilliant colors that make these species so remarkable, which may be followed by the possibility of their eventual extinction due to inadequate diets.

Flamingo
- Flamingos range in color from light pink, from eating crustaceans such as shrimp and prawns, to bright red, from eating spirulina and other types of algae. The color comes from carotene, the same substance that colors yams and cantaloupe. Captive flamingos lose their color over time if their diet does not include live shrimp and sufficient amounts of algae. Flamingo species live in central Peru, both coasts of southern South America, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia, southern Brazil, India, Spain, Cuba, the Bahamas, the Yucatan and eastern, southwestern and western Africa. All of these places are subject to habitat destruction from human habitation along coastal areas, loss of feeding grounds due to oil spills or destruction of mangrove swamps by hurricanes and tsunamis.
Roseate Spoonbill
- Once hunted nearly to extinction so that its bright pink feathers could grace women's hats, the roseate spoonbill, or Ajaja ajaj, has a white head and chest, light pink wings with bright pink highlights on the shoulders and bright pink legs. Although shrimp, snails, insects and algae comprise just 15 percent of a roseate spoonbill's daily food intake, this provides just enough pigment to give its feathers and legs their color. The 2010 oil spill in the Gulf Coast may drive this beautiful bird back into threatened status due to the contamination of its feeding grounds.
Clown Anemone Fish
- The clown anemone fish eats zooplankton, phytoplankton and algae cleaned from the sea anemone it uses as cover. The carotenoids from these planktons and algae brightens the orange- to maroon-colored sections on its body, and darkens the black lines that divide the bright-colored sections on the clown fish from the white sections.
Swordtail
- Many freshwater aquarium fish get their coloring from their foods. Also known as Xiphophorus helleri, the omnivorous, live-bearing swordtail eats brine shrimp, bloodworms and spirulina, among other foods. Replacing as little as 3 percent of a swordtail's diet with commercially-produced spirulina-based flake food brightens its color within two weeks, according to Clyde S. Tamaru and his colleagues at the University of Hawaii.

Animals & Science