Models for Pigment Pattern Formation in the Skin of Fishes

Abstract

The colours and patterns of the skin provides a fascinating system used for the study of pattern formation in experimental and theoretical research alike. In this article, a brief review of recent work on the pigmentation of the skin is presented. A mathematical model is shown to be able to capture many features associated with the evolving colour patterns on juveniles belonging to the genus of marine angelfish, Pomacanthus. Different forms of growth lead to very different patterning phenomena. The development of computational tools which can accurately reflect the geometry and growth of the real system will allow studies of the relationship between growth and patterning in species such as Pomacanthus or zebrafish.