chromatophore

noun

chro·​mato·​phore krō-ˈma-tə-ˌfȯr 

krə-

plural chromatophores

1

: a pigment-bearing cell

especially : a cell (such as a melanophore) of an animal integument capable of causing integumentary color changes by expanding or contracting

Cephalopods have such remarkable camouflage primarily because of their chromatophores—sacs of red, yellow or brown pigment in the skin made visible (or invisible) by muscles around their circumference.

—Michael Brooks

2

: the organelle of photosynthesis in photosynthetic bacteria (such as the cyanobacteria)

broadly : chromoplast, chloroplast

Examples of chromatophore in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Camouflaged Animals When animals change colors, it’s done by pigments containing cells called chromatophores, located in their organs and skin. —Allison Futterman, Discover Magazine, 6 Mar. 2023

Squid skin is translucent and features an outer layer of pigment cells called chromatophores that control light absorption. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 28 Mar. 2023

Unlike the chromatophores, the iridophores aren't pigment-based but are an example of structural color, similar to the crystals in the wings of a butterfly, except a squid's iridophores are dynamic rather than static. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 28 Mar. 2023

YouTube/American Chemical Society Underneath the chromatophores, there is a separate layer of iridophores. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 28 Mar. 2023

Each chromatophore is attached to muscle fibers that line the skin's surface, and those fibers, in turn, are connected to a nerve fiber. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 2 Feb. 2023

Tracking any one chromatophore over time had proven nearly impossible. —Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 18 Oct. 2018

Organs called chromatophores, which contain sacs of skin pigment, dot their skin. —Washington Post, 7 Feb. 2019

Octopuses’ can quickly and drastically change colors thanks to chromatophores, which are elastic cells of pigment that contract and expand to make certain colors more visible. —Claire Bugos, Smithsonian, 12 Oct. 2019

Word History

Etymology

probably borrowed from German Chromatophore, Chromatophor, from chromato- chromato- + -phore, -phor -phore

Note: In use in German no later than 1841, as Chromatophoren (plural) in Rudolf Wagner's Icones Zootomicae: Handatlas zur zur vergleichenden Anatomie nach fremden und eigen Untersuchungen (Leipzig). In notes to the plates illustrating cephalopod anatomy, Wagner gives Farbzellen ("color" or "pigment cells") as the vernacular equivalent of Chromatophoren.

First Known Use

1849, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

chromatophore

noun

chro·​mato·​phore krō-ˈmat-ə-ˌfō(ə)r, krə-, -ˌfȯ(ə)r 

1

: a pigment-bearing cell

especially : a cell (such as a melanophore) of an animal integument capable of causing integumentary color changes by expanding or contracting

2

: the organelle of photosynthesis in photosynthetic bacteria (such as the cyanobacteria) : chromoplast, chloroplast

chromatophoric

-ˌmat-ə-ˈfōr-ik, -ˈfȯr- 

adjective