Wildlife
Bioluminescence is light created by living organisms and and it can create the most fantastic displays. It includes 'phosphorescence' created by marine creatures and seen on the surface of the sea at night, the light of fireflies and the faint but eerie glow of some fungi. The light is produced chemically for many different reasons: to attract attention, to frighten enemies, to disguise what you really are, or - in the depths of the sea - to provide your own 'headlights' to search out prey.
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Night glow corals
Corals fluoresce at night displaying beautiful colours.
Corals fluoresce at night displaying beautiful colours.
Light fantastic
Glowworms light up the roof in Waitomo's caves, luring their prey to a sticky end.
The glowworm caves of New Zealand are an incredible sight! There are very few insect spectacles on this scale in the world, but this is definitely one of them, and it's something I would love to see before I die.' (George McGavin)
Light lures
Bioluminescence creates pyrotechnic displays deep in the ocean's darkness.
Bioluminescence creates pyrotechnic displays deep in the ocean's darkness. Shots courtesy of WHOI
Tricks of light
Shedding bioluminescent light on the situation can work as defence.
Shedding bioluminescent light on the situation can work as defence.
Night Dive - Marine Life
A spectacular night dive at St Abbs in search of the amazing sea creatures that fluoresce beyond our visual spectrum.
A spectacular night dive at St Abbs in search of the amazing sea creatures that fluoresce beyond our visual spectrum.
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism. Its name is a hybrid word, originating from the Greek bios for "living" and the Latin lumen "light". Bioluminescence is a naturally occurring form of chemiluminescence where energy is released by a chemical reaction in the form of light emission. Fireflies, anglerfish, and other creatures produce the chemicals luciferin (a pigment) and luciferase (an enzyme). The luciferin reacts with oxygen to create light. The luciferase acts as a catalyst to speed up the reaction, which is sometimes mediated by cofactors such as calcium ions or ATP. The chemical reaction can occur either inside or outside the cell. In bacteria, the expression of genes related to bioluminescence is controlled by an operon called the Lux operon.
Bioluminescence occurs in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as microorganisms and terrestrial animals. Symbiotic organisms carried within larger organisms are also known to bioluminesce.
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Other Communication and senses behaviours
Habitats where this adaptation is useful
Take a trip through the natural world with our themed collections of video clips from the natural history archive.
This is Planet Earth
With Planet Earth Live hitting our screens, what better way to marvel at the wonders of nature than watching a fantastic collection of video highlights from the original Planet Earth series.
George's marvellous minibeasts
A video collection featuring bugs and insects in amazing close up selected by insect expert and TV presenter George McGavin, with Goliath spiders, killer centipedes, ants and moths.
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Anglerfish
Common glow-worm