chromatophoren.
/ˈkrəʊmətəfɔː/ 1. Physiology. A pigment-cell, possessing contractile processes, contained in the skin of many animals. Esp. applied to those of the Cephalopoda, which by their contraction and change of shape cause a change of colour in the skin.
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the world > life > biology > substance > cell > types of cells > [noun] > pigment cells
colour cell1841
chromatophore1864
chromatocyte1888
melanocyte1890
melanoblast1902
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Cephalopoda > [noun] > member of > parts of > pigment-cell
chromatophore1864
1864 Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. (citing Dana).
1870 G. Rolleston Forms Animal Life Introd. 89 [In Cephalopoda] The tegumentary system is distinguished..by the presence of chromatophores.
1873 St. G. Mivart Lessons Elem. Anat. xii. 488 We may find (e.g. in the Chameleon) cutaneous structures termed chromatophores, which are little sacs containing pigment of various colours and each with an aperture, which when open allows the colour to appear.
1881 St. G. Mivart in Nature No. 615. 336 In trout which are kept alive in dark places, the black chromatophores are expanded, and consequently such specimens are very dark-coloured.
2. Botany. [German (F. Schmitz Die Chromatophoren der Algen (1882) 4).] A plastid containing coloured pigments, as a chromoplast or a chloroplast.
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the world > life > biology > substance > cell > cell organelle or contents > [noun] > plastids or aggregate of
homo-organ1883
homoplast1883
trophoplast1883
plastid1885
chloroplast1887
chromatophore1895
proplastid1922
plastidome1926
1895 F. W. Oliver et al. tr. A. Kerner von Marilaun Nat. Hist. Plants II. 629 This chlorophyll-layer or chromatophore.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 407/2 A coloured protoplasmic body, called a chromatophore, the pigment of which in the pure green forms is chlorophyll, and which may then be called a chloroplast.
1960 L. Picken Organization of Cells iii. 61 Some bacteria contain well-defined chromatophores associated with photosynthetic activity.
1965 P. Bell & D. Coombe tr. Strasburger's Textbk. Bot. (new ed.) 43 The yellow and orange colours of many flowers.., as well as the bright red of many fruits (e.g. hips, haws, and tomatoes), are caused, at least partly, by photosynthetically inactive chromatophores.
Derivatives
ˌchromatoˈphoric adj. pertaining to or containing chromatophores.
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the world > life > biology > substance > cell > cell organelle or contents > [adjective] > plastids
chromatophoric1881
plastid1890
nucleoplastic1892
1881 in New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon
1895 Pop. Sci. Monthly Jan. 389 The theory that light acts directly on the chromatophoric cells has been proved to be incorrect.
1904 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 196 322 The groups which make up the primary chromatophoric system.
chromaˈtophorous adj. bearing chromatophores.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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