Shining Examples: 10 Bioluminescent Creatures that Glow in Surprising Ways [Slide Show]

A wide range of organisms generate their own light to seek mates, sustenance and survival--inspiring researchers and moviemakers alike

BONUS: LUMINOUS BEINGS ARE WE? No mammals have been shown to produce bioluminescence—at least in an intended, substrate-and-enzyme-based visual display like fireflies and many denizens of the deep—and humans are no exception... MASAKI KOBAYASHI/DAISUKE KIKUCHI/HITOSHI OKAMURA/PLOS ONE
UNDERWATER "NIGHT VISION" Most oceanic creatures bioluminesce in blue—and to a lesser extent green—because these short wavelengths of light travel farther in water than longer, redder wavelengths. For the same reason, sea life has adapted to register these colors and often does not possess the visual pigments needed to see reds, oranges and yellows... STEVE HADDOCK
SPARKLING SLIME Dozens of earthworm species from all over the world can secrete a glowing slime, thought to startle predators. This particular worm, Diplocardia longa , is found in sandy soils in southern Georgia in the U.S... MILTON J. CORMIER/JAMES M. ANDERSON AND JOHN E. WAMPLER/BIOLUMINESCENCE LABORATORY, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
PHOTONIC CAMOUFLAGE Even in ocean depths where sunlight barely penetrates, the faint silhouette that a fish throws to predators beneath it in the water column can make it an easy target. Accordingly, many fish, crustaceans and squid have developed bioluminescent "counterillumination" abilities... NOAA
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FLY FISHING--WITH A FLASHLIGHT Before a short adult life as a gnat, larvae in the genus Arachnocampa spend months as carnivorous glowworms in caves or sheltered areas using light as a lure. In the top image, a hungry New Zealand glowworm, Arachnocampa luminosa , lays a trap... SPELLBOUND GLOWWORM AND CAVE TOURS, WAITOMO, NZ
BLUE TIDE When plankton called dinoflagellates grow too numerous near shore, the single-celled algae can stain the water a reddish-brown, causing so-called red tides that are often toxic to people and fish alike... PHIL HART
EFFULGENT FUNGI Mushrooms gleam in forests all over the world, from the Mycena lucentipes species seen here, described in Brazil last year, to the honey and jack o' lantern mushrooms that emit a greenish "fox fire" glow in woodlands... CASSIUS V. STEVANI/IQ-USP, BRAZIL
GELATINOUS GLOW Comb jellies, technically known as ctenophores, are a phylum of seafaring organism characterized by their use of small hairs, or cilia, for aquatic locomotion. Almost all of these blobby beings also bioluminesce, and they provide yet another example of defensive lighting with so-called "sacrificial tags"... MARSH YOUNGBLUTH/NOAA
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BOMBS AWAY! A paper published in Science this August made waves when it announced the discovery of five previously unknown species of sea worm that launch liquid-filled, bioluminescent capsules that burst into green light for several seconds... KAREN OSBORNE
KILLUMINATION Hundreds of meters down in deep, pitch-black ocean waters, monstrous-looking anglerfish wave about bioluminescent lures, called esca , to temp prey into swimming within striking distance... STEVE HADDOCK
FLYING WITH FIRE The power to make its own light distinguishes the life—and death—of the familiar firefly. Also commonly called lightning bugs, these species have developed unique call-and-response patterns of flashes between courting, airborne males and the females that watch from leafy perches... JAMES JORDAN/FLICKR

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