A two-dimensional numerical study of spatial pattern formation in interacting Turing systems

For many years Turing systems have been proposed to account for spatial and spatiotemporal pattern formation in chemistry and biology. We extend the s tudy of Turing systems to investigate the role of boundary conditions, doma in shape, non-linearities, and coupling of such systems. We show that such modifications lead to a wide variety of patterns that bear a striking resem blance to pigmentation patterns in fish, particularly those involving strip es, spots and transitions between them. Using the Turing system as a metaph or for activator-inhibitor models we conclude that such a mechanism, with t he aforementioned modifications, may play a role in fish patterning. (C) 19 99 Society for Mathematical Biology.