Some of these accessory pigments, in particular the carotenoids, also serve to absorb and dissipate excess light energy, or work as antioxidants.
The result is that, in vivo, a composite absorption spectrum of all these pigments is broadened and flattened such that a wider range of visible and infrared radiation is absorbed by plants and algae.
Organisms such as some cyanobacteria and red algae contain accessory phycobiliproteins that absorb green light reaching these habitats.
[3] In aquatic ecosystems, it is likely that the absorption spectrum of water, along with gilvin and tripton (dissolved and particulate organic matter, respectively), determines phototrophic niche differentiation.
This is why open ocean appears blue and supports yellow species such as Prochlorococcus, which contains divinyl-chlorophyll a and b. Synechococcus, colored red with phycoerythrin, is adapted to coastal bodies, while phycocyanin allows Cyanobacteria to thrive in darker inland waters.