Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see (
crypsis), or by disguising them as something else (
mimesis). Examples include the
leopard's spotted coat, the
battledress of a modern
soldier, and the
leaf-mimic katydid's wings. A third approach, motion dazzle, confuses the observer with a conspicuous pattern, making the object visible but momentarily harder to locate. The majority of camouflage methods aim for crypsis, often through a general resemblance to the background, high contrast
disruptive coloration, eliminating shadow, and
countershading. In the open ocean, where there is no background, the principal methods of camouflage are transparency, silvering, and countershading, while the
ability to produce light is among other things used for
counter-illumination on the undersides of
cephalopods such as
squid. Some animals, such as
chameleons and
octopuses, are capable of actively changing their skin pattern and colours, whether for camouflage or for signalling.