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how do some very colorful fish quickly lose almost all pigmentation shortly after death? i have seen glass cats turn milky white within an hour after death, countless community fish being almost unrecognizable due to color loss after dying, and- most recently- my ancient rtbs turning ghost white with just a hint of red on its tail within several hours after death.

why? this is more of a "hmmm" type question as opposed to an actual dillema.

Dunno, but I noticed the same in my poor departed BN plec. He was already albino, but a very lovely gold color. In death, he was chalk white. Sigh. I miss the lil guy.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Mario...

Let's say I drained all the blood from your body. What color would you think you'd be after an hour??

Ever notice that all vampires are rather pale?? That's why they only come out at night. They're embarrassed.

--garyroland.

Mmm, yes, gary, but in dead bodies, all the blood pools towards the ground, leaving big bruises and such (yay, gravity)... I didn't notice that on my BN's body; he was ghost-pale all over. And dying doesn't drain the blood from the body... vampires do that.

I suppose gravity doesn't have as much of an effect on blood in water, due to the bouyancy? Or would that effect it? There's still gravity after all...

How tan would the average vampire be if they couldn't go out into the sunlight? Assuming the stories are right and they're burned by the sun? Or are you right and they're just embarassed? *chuckles

...I read too many vampire books. Normal people don't know about dead bodies. *grins* And now I'm arguing vampire semantics. Oi.

Still... is there a scientist in the house that can explain this phenomenon? I mean, by rights, the blood is no longer flushing the skin with healthy color and such, but how does it loose all pigmentation?

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

A peek into the local morgue would reveal all sorts of white/pale corpses...

Agreed that it takes more than an hour but nonetheless still white.

Of course after embalming, cosmetics are required to brighten up their faces a bit.

--garyroland.

we turn pale when we cant breath, and blood isnt being pumped.

Probably the same for fish - they die, their heart stops, and they turn pale, cuz their not getting blood pumped around.

Assuming that they died and their heart still pumped, im sure they would keep their color (probably for as long as their heart is going)

Victim that sounds like a good reason to me...

Now Gary and Kitten...Ya'll both need to head to your nearest bookstores and pick up Lindsay Sands 3 books: Single White Vampire, Love Bites, and Tall, Dark and Hungry. Then you might truely understand vampires...

Heidi

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Last edited by heidi at 29-Dec-2004 21:33

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle