Research: Mr. Teitur Bendtsen has defended his BSc thesis about “Colour Changing in Lumpfish, and Their Choice of Shelter Colour.”
In the project, Teitur Bendtsen examined whether lumpfish change colour to adapt to its shelter surroundings. Also, he examined whether lumpfish prefer a certain shelter colour.
The conclusion reveals that lumpfish change colour in the course of a day. The most pronounced change is that tey turn lighter in bright shelters, and darker in dark shelters. Also, there are differences in nuance depending on the surrounding shelter. The conclusion also states that lumpfish prefer black or red shelters to other colours, and the rather avoid white and blue shelters.
Teitur Bendtsen mentiones that red light does not penetrate very deep. Hence, lumpfish may choose red and black shelters because then they don’t need to perform the colour changing. Also, black and red appear similar to brown algae. Wild lumpfish are usually found in seaweed areas.
The project was conducted in cooperation with Fiskaaling Ltd., and the practical part was based in Nesvík. Teitur Bendtsen’s advisors were: Ása Johannesen, researcher at Fiskaaling, and Eyðfinn Magnussen, associate professer at the University of the Faroe Islands.
