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Bioluminescence

Bioluminescence is light produced by a chemical reaction within an organism. Near the surface of a sea, it is most commonly seen as bow wake, the glowing waves produced by a boat or ship moving through the water (the organisms are called dinoflagellates). Deep in the oceans, many creatures use bioluminescence for various purposes. On the land, perhaps the best know case is in the abdomen of the firefly.

 

How long do these bioluminescent flashes last? Dinoflagellates flash for about a tenth of a second. Some jellyfish produce light for many seconds at a time. Some organisms produce light continuously.

There are about two thousand species of fireflies in the world. Each species has its own pattern of flashing with a male-initiated flash that is followed by a female’s flash. In one species, a large female flashes a signal that attracts male fireflies of another species; when the male approaches, the counterfeiter eats the unlucky male.

 

The Min Min light of Australia (or at least some of the lights so labeled) have been credited to certain barn owls that occasionally glow.

 

Perhaps the most mysterious case of bioluminescence is the five-to-six-second flash of the ropen of Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea. This secretive creature is believed by some investigators to be a living Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur. This strange species seems to also live on the mainland of Papua New Guinea.

updated Sept 6, 2006