iridocyte Zool.
(ˈaɪərɪdəʊsaɪt)
[a. Fr. iridocyte (G. Pouchet 1876, in Jrnl. de l'Anat. & de la Physiol. XII. 45), f. Gr. ἰριδ-, iris n. + κύτος a hollow, cell.]
A cell which refracts light to cause iridescence, found in the skin of fishes, cephalopods, and certain other animals.
| 1893 Cunningham & MacMunn in Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. CLXXXIV. 767 The chief features of the iridocytes are their regularity of outline, and their great reflecting power. 1923 Glasgow Herald 23 June 4 The silveriness [of plaice] is due to the reflection of light from minute spangles of a waste-product called guanin, which accumulates in certain skin-cells called iridocytes. 1940 Proc. Zool. Soc. A. CX. 19 Throughout the epithelial tissues of the animal [sc. Sepia officinalis], lying below the chromatophores, is a layer of immobile reflector cells, the iridocytes or iridophores. 1960 Fox & Vevers Nature of Animal Colours x. 150 In scales the guanine crystals may cause iridescence by interference of light and the chromatophores are then called iridocytes. |