Melena an overview ScienceDirect Topics Dark stool vs black stool the difference can be serious. Dark brown stool is often food or iron related. Black, tarry stool may indicate internal bleeding and needs urgent medical attention. There are no 50 shades of melena, only one color: Black; and it's a color that smells bad. Otherwise it's not melena or it's derivatives (melenic, melanotic, melenatonic ) Great thread w a What Your Poop Color Reveals About Your Health Types of Poop: What Doctors Need You to Know The Healthy @Reader's Digest A change in the colour of one's stools may sometimes be due to dietary changes; though it could also reveal something about one's health. Where stool appears or , it