Flashlight fish
A flashlight fish from the genus Anomalops, which has pockets under its eyes that are filled with bioluminescent bacteria.
Read the full story about bioluminescence in marine fishes
Barbeled dragonfish
Barbeled dragonfish are bioluminescent deep-sea fish with a long protrusion — known as a barbel — attached to their chins and tipped with a light-producing organ called a photophore.
Loosejaw dragonfish
A recently collected loosejaw dragonfish (Malacosteinae) with bioluminescent eye organs.
Flashlight fish photophore
Close-up of the bioluminescent light organ (white patch) in a splitfin flashlight fish (Anomalops katoptron).
Glowing light organ
A splitfin flashlight fish (Anomalops katoptron) glowing as it swims in an aquarium.
Bristlemouth
Gonostoma is a genus of bristlemouth, the most abundant vertebrates on Earth. Bristlemouths have light organs on their bellies, which break up the silhouette of the fish’s body to predators below and serves as a sort of camouflage.
Read the full story about bioluminescence in marine fishes
Black-belly dragonfish
A recently collected black-belly dragonfish (Stomias atriventer) with a bioluminescent chin barbel.
Collecting bioluminescent fish
Scientific and technical crew of the research vehicle "Robert Gordon Sproul," bringing the Isaacs-Kidd midwater trawl on board after a four-hour tow through the deep sea.
Deep-sea hatchetfish
A recently collected deep-sea hatchetfish (Sternoptyx) with bioluminescent ventral organs.
Dragonfish
Black-belly dragonfish (Stomias atriventer) collected in a midwater trawl at a depth of 600 meters.
Hatchetfish
The deep-sea hatchetfish, which gets its name from the distinct hatchet-like shape of its body, has light-producing organs known as photophores that run along the length of its body and point downward. Hatchetfishes use these structurally complex photophores to mimic any down-welling sunlight and disappear from predators lurking below.
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