Fascinating color change behavior

[Darby]

I know that many fish change colors at various times, but I've never seen one do it as often or and quickly as this fish. I have a juvinille Atlantic Blue Tang, and he is by far the most color changing fish I've ever had! He's currently in the 'mid way' phase of color shift, where at his most intense he looks like a Purple Tang, a very deep blue/purple with electric blue edges and a yellow tail. His night colors pale his flanks to leave vertical blue bars, which isn't unusual for most fish.

The fascinating part is that he frequently changes colors when dealing with the other fish in the tank. For instance, he'll pale all the way down to white and let the Neon Goby give him a cleaning. When a jawfish gives him 'the big mouth', he gets white in his blue/purple and undulates. If one of the Cherub Angels or Chalk Bass get too friendly, he gets very dark and then gives them a spine whack. At feeding time he turns a move vivid blue, and the electric blue really stands out, but the yellow tail pales. It just amazes me.

Oddly enough, he's pretty bashful, half the time excited to see me, and the other half the time darting into a crevase to hide.

I'll attempt to take some pics soon, but I don't think my camera is fast enough to capture him, as he never sites still. (but at least he eats at the macro!)

 

[Nazrac]

my unicorn tang is that way about people when they have no food or the reverse. when he is just chillin he is a powder blue color when you look at him in the tank with no food he goes grey/brown and then when you have food he goes a deep blue but still not electric. So if you just hold the nori or the blue dethawing cup he goes blue but if you just check him out looks like poo. Also i used to have a scopas tang and a sailfin that would compete for the neon gobies service. the scopas would go almost solid black while the sailfin would go pale with light yellow vert stripes.