Biological pigment Biological pigment Biological pigments, also known simply as pigments or biochromes, are substances produced by living organisms that have a color resulting from selective color absorption. Biological pigments include plant pigments and flower pigments. Many biological structures, such as skin, eyes, feathers, fur and hair contain pigments such as melanin in specialized cells called chromatophores. Pigment color differs from structural color in that it is the same for all viewing angles, whereas structural color is the result of selective reflection or iridescence, usually because of multilayer structures. For example, butterfly wings typically contain structural color, although many butterflies have cells
Accessory pigment overall trend for water to absorb low frequencies, while gilvin and tripton absorb higher ones. This is why open ocean appears blue and supports yellow species such as "Prochlorococcus", which contains divinyl-chlorophyll "a" and "b". "Synechococcus", colored red with phycoerythrin, is adapted to coastal bodies, while phycocyanin allows Cyanobacteria to thrive in darker inland waters. Accessory pigment Accessory pigments are light-absorbing compounds, found in photosynthetic organisms, that work in conjunction with chlorophyll "a". They include other forms of this pigment, such as chlorophyll "b" in green algal and higher plant antennae, while other algae may contain chlorophyll "c" or "d".