Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A brown or black melanin-containing chromatophore found in the skin of a fish, amphibian, or reptile.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A large cell which contains dark pigment-granules. Typical examples occur in the common fence-lizard, Anolis, which turns from green to brown.
  • noun The dark-brown chromatophore of the algæ.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun biology A cell containing melanin or other black pigment, such as are found in fish, amphibians, and reptiles

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

melano- + -phore

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Examples

  • African clawed frog (Xenopus Laevis) sport unique melanophore (pigment cells) that slowly move across the skin of the animal.

    Medgadget 2009

Comments

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  • A cell containing melanin.

    February 16, 2008