Why is saltwater marine life usually so much more colorful and vibrant?
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While I haven’t researched it, my best guess would be habitat. In freshwater environments the watch is much more muddy and shallow and the best places to hide are rock formations. That would explain why larger predatory fish sometimes have splashes of color while smaller ones don’t.
Ocean fish mainly inhabit coral reefs so they have evolved to be much more vibrant. Also in the ocean there are many more venomous fish that are brightly colored to ward of predators. Along with this, the fish that inhabit open water, such as bluefin tuna, are shades of blue to blend in with the open water around them. This isn’t to say that all ocean fish are bright and colorful, take the stone fish for example. They are sandy browns and greys that blend in with the sea floor because they are ambush predators. Another senerio is deep sea fish, which are often darker colored as color doesn’t matter when you can’t see.
I hope that helped and I hope I’m not spewing false information, remember I didn’t fact check any of this and am just making an educated guess.
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