Light‐sensitive fish melanophores in culture

Abstract Dermal melanophores in the skin from embryos and young fishes of the black platy fish, Xiphophorus maculatus, were dissociated and cultured in a monolayer. Melanosomes in the melanophores were dispersed in culture. Some of the cultured melanophores directly responded to light by producing reversible melanosome aggregation within a few minutes. A dose‐response relationship was found between light intensity and time required for melanosome aggregation.