Have you ever wished that when you are alone in the dark that you could emit your own light as you scramble towards a switch. For some animals this is their way of life. There is a chemical reaction inside the organism that leads to a process known as bioluminescence which is the emission of light through the organism. Many marine organisms possess this ability and they all have a significant way of using their bioluminescence within their body. For this process to occur the species must contain the molecule luciferin that when reacted with oxygen leads to the production of light.

One of the most noteworthy creatures that emits their own light is the angler fish. It’s one of the most noteworthy because the first image my mind conjures when I hear bioluminescence is the scene with the angler fish in Finding Nemo. The angler fish uses their light to lure their prey into a fall sense of security before appearing and consuming them.

Then there is the vampire squid that uses its bioluminescence and exerts it on to other organisms, specifically their predators. The vampire squid uses the particles of food it has eaten which are mainly dead organisms and adds a glowy – mucus that when it leaves the vampire squid’s body attaches to the predator for around ten minutes in order to make it visible allowing the squid to escape the danger presented.

Another kind of squid capable of emitting its own light is the Hawaiian bobtail squid which has its luminescent organ in its mantle cavity. Also in its first few hours of its life it becomes colonized by a bioluminescent bacteria. A mature squid develops a central core of epithelium lined crypt spaces that contain the bacteria along with a reflector and ink-sacs that helps direct the bacterial luminescence plus lenses and filters that modify the emitted light. With the light being modified it is possible to manipulate the intensity of a down-welling moon and starlight which masks its shadows to avoid any of the predators inhabiting the area below the Hawaiian Bobtail Squid.

Another marine animal that is capable of producing its own light even has it in its name, it is called the lantern fish. The lantern fish has some light producing photophores along the surface of its stomach and a nasal light organ that acts like a headlight for them to see. They use their light as a source of camouflage along their body by masking their silhouette making them harder to decipher in the dark as well as they have a system among the species that allows them to use their light as a way of communicating to one another. They also use their light so they can see their prey while they are hunting  and so they can see their potential mates while they go on a different type of hunt. I am incredibly jealous of these animals. I wish humans possessed more of the photoproteins so that we could illuminate the darkness around us.