Definition of Chromatophore

1. n. A contractile cell or vesicle containing liquid pigment and capable of changing its form or size, thus causing changes of color in the translucent skin of such animals as possess them. They are highly developed and numerous in the cephalopods.

Definition of Chromatophore

1. Noun. A pigment-bearing cell or structure found in certain fish, reptiles, cephalopods, and other animals. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Chromatophore

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Chromatophore

1. 1. Pigment containing cells of the dermis, particularly in teleosts and amphibians. By controlling the intracellular distribution of pigment granules the animal can blend with the background. Melanocytes and melanophores are melanin containing chromatophores. 2. Term occasionally used for chloroplasts in the chromophyte algae. This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Chromatophore

chromatography column
chromatography paper
chromatoid
chromatokinesis
chromatology
chromatolyses
chromatolysis
chromatolytic
chromatometer
chromatopectic
chromatopexis
chromatophil
chromatophilia
chromatophilic
chromatophobia
chromatophore
chromatophores
chromatophorotropic
chromatophorotropic hormone
chromatoplasm
chromatopsia
chromatopsias
chromatoscope
chromatoscopes
chromatosome
chromatosphere
chromatospheres
chromatotropism
chromatrope
chromatropes

Literary usage of Chromatophore

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The American Naturalist by American Society of Naturalists, Essex Institute (1905)
"The only striking exceptions to this broad principle are Anthoceros, whose cells contain each a single large chromatophore, and Selaginella. ..."

2. A Treatise on the British Freshwater Algae by George Stephen West (1904)
"... to certain regions, and it is a vexed question whether or not this pigmented part of the cytoplasm should be regarded as a true chromatophore. ..."

3. Fresh-water Biology by Henry Baldwin Ward, George Chandler Whipple (1918)
"Chromatophore with a circular opening and a pyrenoid; zoospores oval, with two cilia, ... Except for the nature of the Chromatophore this genus resembles ..."

4. Transactions of the Canadian Institute by Canadian Institute (1849-1914). (1899)
"Palla, on the other hand, defines, without further reference, the coloured peripheral layer as the chromatophore, which Nadson does not accept, ..."

5. The Cell in Development and Inheritance by Edmund Beecher Wilson (1911)
"In the first case, therefore, the maternal chromatophore passes into one, ... In the case of a Spirogyra filament having a single chromatophore it is ..."

6. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London by Royal Society (Great Britain) (1874)
"In parts of the same chromatophore, where this apparently normal ... The cell-wall is faintly tinted with the peculiar colour of the chromatophore. ..."

7. Botanical Gazette by University of Chicago, JSTOR (Organization) (1896)
"Figure I shows the characteristic form and position of the chromatophore in a ... It extends a protuberance at one end; the chromatophore a little later ..."

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