Swimming into the twilight zone: The wonders of the lantern fish

Swimming into the twilight zone: The wonders of the lantern fish

Source: CBC News

10/30/2021

Way down in a spooky part of the ocean called the twilight zone lives the lantern fish.

Aptly named, this flashy fish emits its own light; lantern fish have organs on their bodies, called photophores, that produce a molecule called luciferin that, when combined with oxygen, makes a blue-green light. The same way fireflies glow on land, lantern fish can glow underwater, an effect called bioluminescence.

Lantern fish are mesopelagic, meaning they live between 200 and 1,000 below the water's surface. In this twilight zone, there's very little light — less than one per cent of the light at the water's surface — but not complete blackness.

But why do lantern fish light up? According to Maxime Geoffroy, a fisheries researcher scientist at the Marine Institute in St. John's, the reasons are not fully understood.

The fish might be communicating with each other to signal danger lurking in the depths, he said.

"We know they produce light when they are stressed. So that's one hint that it's probably a reaction to predation or to fear.… The bioluminescence is being used to camouflage so their predators have trouble seeing them," said Geoffroy.

Benthosema glaciale

Continue...

News Id		Source	Stamp	country
3426	Why lionfish are being hunted by robots in Bermuda	bbc	2017-06-26	US
3427	Invasive Carp Caught 9 Miles From Great Lakes	The Two-Way	2017-06-23	US
3428	Photographer Captures Seahorses, Stingers and 'Grumpy' Fish In Vanishing Ocean Habitats	Zenger News	2021-08-17	SP
3429	This Robot Mimics a Primitive Eel-Like Fish, Swims Like a Pro	autoevolution	2021-08-13	US
3430	Are Canadian fish being poisoned by radiation?	cosmosmagazine	2017-06-11	CA
3431	Fish falls from the sky in Lake Tapps	THE NEWS TRIBUNE	2017-06-02	US
3432	Oklahoma man’s invention makes fish hook removal safer	swtimes	2017-05-29	CA
3433	Pet fish dumping potential problem for Michigan waters	wwmt	2017-05-27	US
3434	Trio of women catch over 900 lionfish in two days	foxnews	2017-05-26	US
3435	This adorable underwater drone swims like a fish	bgr	2017-11-22	US
3436	Alaska captain hit with $1 million fine, six-month sentence for misreporting	nationalfisherman	2021-08-10	US
3437	COVID-19 threatened Alaska’s fishermen. Here's how they persevered	nationalgeographic	2021-08-10	US
3438	Warmer seas turn fish poop into a problem for coral reefs	Harrison Tasoff-UC Santa Barbara	2021-08-11	US
3439	Are underwater farms the future of food production?	timeslive	2017-07-27	ZA
3440	Washington may have to pay $2B to save salmon	kiro7	2015-06-22	US
3441	Illegal release of 6000 salmon costs farming company $150,000	stuff	2017-05-22	NZ
3442	Conservation celebrations: Why this tiny fish fingerling has scientists high-fiving	ABC Central West	2017-05-22	AU
3443	Extreme angler and Jeremy Wade’s Mighty Rivers presenter on ITV	thesun	2019-02-08	UK
3444	Marine patrol on Grand River results in charges and warnings	brantfordexpositor	2021-08-31	CA
3445	Three fishermen reel in 70 KILOGRAM bass groper fish	dailymail	2017-05-16	US
3446	Meet the ‘world’s sexiest angler’ who freedives up to 65ft underwater to spear and catch fish with her bare hands	thesun	2017-05-12	UK
3447	The fish that is being loved to death	bbc	2017-05-10	UK
3448	Md. woman lands ‘Fish of 10,000 Casts’ to set state record	wtop	2017-05-11	US
3449	A third of fish catches in worlds' oceans is unreported, claims Canadian report	mercopress	2017-05-08	UK
3450	Scientists have found parasites that 'drive' fish from inside their eyeballs	Business Insider Australia	2017-05-08	AU

137 of [218 - pages.]