A few lucky animals, such as jellyfish and corals, have the strange ability to absorb light and emit it as a different, glowing color. This phenomenon is known as biofluorescence, and lately, scientists have discovered 180 species that can glow.
Lots of species that seem perfectly normal to us under regular light look entirely different in deeper water. Here, much of the visible light spectrum has been absorbed by water, leaving mostly blue light. As a matter of fact, it turns out that many fish species use this light to glow in neon green, orange or red. However, to snap photos of such types of fish or animals in the act of fluorescing, which is invisible to the human eye, scientists from Baruch College and the American Museum of Natural History used blue lights and cameras with yellow filters that block the blue light and capture the glow. Here’s a video for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ3EaLXh3O4
Scientists became astonished what they had found. They discovered that Eels, Lizardfish even Sharks, rays and other species were all glowing under water. Scientists reported that they found “180 species of fluorescent fish, from 50 different families” that had the “strange ability to absorb light and emit it as a different, glowing color.”
Scientists suspect that these animals use the glow to stand out and communicate to each other, while remaining hidden from predators. However, scientists findings have been published in the journal PLoS One on January 8. Scientists believe these animals may provide new chemicals for laboratory research.
Source: PopSci
Thanks To: Science Magazine
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