Glowing shark!? (Along with keyboard and mice...)
Discovered in the deep: the sharks that glow in the dark. Kitefin sharks (Dalatias Licha) have been known since the 18th century, but it was only in January 2020 that scientists saw them glowing in the...
11.11.2022.
1 min. reads
Discovered in the deep: the sharks that glow in the dark. Kitefin sharks (Dalatias Licha) have been known since the 18th century, but it was only in January 2020 that scientists saw them glowing in the dark for the first time. They are not the only bioluminescent sharks – roughly one in 10 species has that ability – but at up to 1.8 meters, kitefins are by far the biggest that have been found. Studies in the 1980s suggested they have light-emitting organs in their brown skin, but nobody had seen one alive and illuminated.To produce light, sharks have tiny cup-shaped structures, ca lled photophores, dotted across their skin. In the centre of each cup are light-emitting cells, and a lens on top directs the light outwards. Bioluminescence in sharks is controlled by hormones.
Source: The Guardian web - November 09, 2022.