by Conscious Reminder
Scientists have successfully managed to capture a photo of the glow-in-the-dark shark that produces a light of its own.
Dalatias Licha is a kitefin shark which is the largest bioluminescent vertebrate in the world and the length is 6 feet. They are found near the Chatham Rise that is off the South Island, east coast, in New Zealand.
This was revealed on Tuesday in the study published by the scientists of Catholic University in Louvain as well as Belgium and the NIWA (National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research) in NZ.
A Study On Glow-In-The-Dark Shark
A particular biochemical reaction leads to the generation of light that is known as bioluminescence. Only 57 out of 540 known species of sharks are considered to be glow-in-the-dark sharks according to Jerome Mallefet, co-author of the study and the marine biology head in UCLouvain lab.
Although kitefin sharks produce visible light it is “really difficult to observe” because they live 656-2,953 feet under the surface of the ocean, Mallefet informed.
The bioluminescent feature was observed in 2 other species including blackbelly lanternshark (Etmopterus Lucifer) and (southern lanternshark) Etmopterus granulosus during this research project.
Mallefet noted that these sharks were accidentally caught during the trawling survey by NIWA. He was later asked to join their investigation trip in 2020 January and spent thirty days aboard to capture several sharks.
Source Of Light In Deep Sea
Mallefet stated that “I was just like a kid at the bottom of a Christmas tree,” while they were taking pictures of the glow-in-the-dark shark in the darkroom bucket of the ship. 656 feet below the deep waters is known as a twilight zone. It is popularly mistakenly to be dark without any light but the sharks do find some useful light there.
He explained how “They use light to disappear,” as bioluminescent sharks become invisible due to the dim glow of the water surface. This way they are protected from predators and also hunt prey easily.
Mallefet expressed his concerns about water pollution and deep-sea dumping since “There are still question marks,” over the dorsal fin luminosity and deep-sea characteristics.
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