Camouflage the peacock flounder, squid and octopus actively change their skin patterns and colours using special chromatophore cells to resemble their current background, or, as in most chameleons, for signalling. However, Smith's dwarf chameleon does use active colour change for camouflage. Each chromatophore contains pigment of only one colour. In fish and frogs, colour change is mediated by the type of chromatophores known as melanophores that contain dark pigment. A melanophore is star-shaped; it contains many small pigmented organelles which can be dispersed throughout the cell, or aggregated near its centre. When the pigmented organelles are dispersed, the cell makes a
Self-decoration camouflage materials including moulted cuticle and their own droppings, which appears to serve both to camouflage the larvae and to repel predators. Larvae of species that eat aphids decorate themselves with the waxy material produced by the aphids; larvae decorated like this are ignored by ants which farm the aphids, whereas the ants eject undecorated larvae, making this a wolf in sheep's clothing strategy of aggressive mimicry. The strategy has been used by traditional human hunters, such as when Australian aborigines dressed in emu skins and adopted emu-like postures to hunt these birds. Snipers, working alone, rely heavily on effective camouflage.