Blue Sharks Use Nanotech to Shift Color Underwater – New Study Reveals Hidden Skin Structures
🔹 Key Highlights:
- Blue sharks use nanostructures, not just pigments, to create their vivid blue color.
- Microscopic crystals (guanine) and melanin vesicles work together like “nano-mirrors and absorbers.”
- Sharks may subtly change color underwater due to pressure or humidity shifts.
- The mechanism may inspire eco-friendly, color-changing materials in technology and design.
- First time such a multi-functional skin structure has been found in marine animals.
What is Science News:
Shimmering in the ocean’s blue depths, blue sharks (Prionace glauca) don’t just look stunning — they’re hiding a nanotech trick beneath their skin.
Researchers have discovered that these sharks owe their electric blue color not just to pigments, but to a sophisticated microscopic system of crystals and cells that reflect and manipulate light like tiny, built-in mirrors.
“We found that blue sharks have evolved a stunningly complex way of producing and potentially shifting their color,” says Dr. Viktoriia Kamska, lead researcher from the City University of Hong Kong.
🔬 How Sharks Get Their Blue
Inside the shark’s dermal denticles—the tooth-like scales that coat their skin—are pulp cavities filled with two key structures:
- Guanine platelets – reflect blue light like shiny crystals
- Melanin vesicles (melanosomes) – absorb unwanted colors
These two work like a color factory: crystals reflect the right color, while melanin absorbs the rest. The result? A rich, vibrant blue that stands out in the ocean.
🌈 Sharks That Change Color?
Here’s where it gets even cooler: The spacing between the guanine crystal layers can shift due to changes in water pressure, depth, or humidity. When that happens, the shark’s color can subtly shift from blue to green or even gold — helping it better blend into different lighting environments underwater.
“A shark swimming deeper may naturally appear darker blue due to increased pressure squeezing the crystals closer,” says Professor Mason Dean, senior scientist on the team.
🔧 Bio-Inspired Design Potential
This discovery is more than a deep-sea curiosity — it could inspire eco-friendly, color-changing materials for use in marine gear, clothing, or even building materials.
- No toxic dyes or chemicals required
- Color is produced by structure—not pigments
- Possible applications in camouflage tech, sensors, and more
“Sharks may have cracked the code for sustainable, multifunctional surfaces,” says Dr. Kamska.
🧠 Why It Matters
This is the first known example of a marine animal using such a multi-functional skin system—one that helps with swimming, protection, and optical camouflage.
It also offers a new path to understanding evolutionary innovation, since sharks and rays developed separately from other bony fish hundreds of millions of years ago.
For engineers, biologists, and designers, this tiny nanostructure in a shark’s skin could unlock big ideas for future technology.
🌟 Fun Fact
The shark’s skin doesn’t just glow—it uses nanotechnology 50,000 times smaller than a human hair to reflect specific colors of light!
❓ Quiz Time
Q: What two microscopic components in shark skin work together to create its blue color?
A) Calcium and Vitamin D
B) Melanin vesicles and guanine crystals
C) Salt and water
D) Light and oxygen
👉 Scroll up to check your answer!
