Now we are going to discuss a very beautiful natural phenomena called bioluminescence and its examples which gives a glowing colourful appearance in the environment.
Table of Contents
What is Bioluminescence:
The food we take undergo oxidation in our body cells and metabolic energy is released in the form of ATM and the energy is used in different cellular activities. But in some organisms this cellular metabolic energy is used to produce light which glows in dark and the phenomenon of emitting light is called bioluminescence.
Examples of Bioluminescence:
Sometimes generally in marine areas different animals show blue or green coloured glow and sometimes red glow is also observed and it is due to specific chemical reaction in their body which produces light energy.
Bioluminescence is very useful for marine animals because of the dark environment of the sea as seen in jellyfish, starfish, crustaceans, squid. Some fish that live in the deep sea have a light emitting part for attracting the prey and it helps them to catch the prey because the deep ocean is very dark.
Bioluminescence is also observed in land habitat; some insects, larvae are able to emit light which causes colourful glow.
Dinoflagellates:
Dinoflagellates are unicellular algae present in marine environments as well as fresh water and they are also called as fire algae due to the presence of a chemical which can produce bioluminescence.
The blue glowing light in response to any object they come in contact with. They use their bioluminescence property against these predators as a defence mechanism and sometimes they glow due to the water movement during the waves.
Dragonfish:
Dragonfish live in the deep sea which have very large bodies and they do not have scales and they are black in colour. They have a special organ which is very peculiar because they can produce light, known as photophores.
Their body can produce light due to the presence of photophores and they can produce red light also which helps them to find their prey because the region where they live is very dark.
Glow Worm:
The name glow worm suggests that they are worms but they are actually not worms, they are some larva and some insects who look like larvae. The adult form do not have wings and on their abdominal and thoracic region they have some structure which is responsible for producing the light due to bioluminescence.
They use their light for different purposes, for example the light attracts the mate for reproduction and also helps to find their food because the light attracts their prey. They produce sticky fibres which can trap the prey and the bioluminescence light is also used for warning their predators.
Bioluminescent Fungi:
Some fungi are also able to produce some chemicals which cause bioluminescence and they generally produce green light. Mushrooms are known for bioluminescence which attracts the insect and the insect when they come to the fungi then they pickup spores and the bioluminescence in fungi occurs with the change in temperature.
Bioluminescence in fungi is controlled by circadian rhythm in which when the sun sets then the fungi show bioluminescence because in dark the bioluminescence becomes bright and attracts the insect more.
Fireflies:
Fireflies have a specific chemical called luciferin which is responsible for producing bioluminescence in their abdominal region. But in their body there are enzymes luciferase which is required to trigger the process of bioluminescence in the presence of oxygen and ATP.
They have a specific type of pattern in bioluminescence in male and female which is useful to identify the difference in male and female, they use the bioluminescence in attracting mates for reproduction and it also helps them to attract prey.
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