Bioluminescence 2009: Living Light on the Deep Sea Floor

Description

Bioluminescence is a fascinating phenomenon that is relatively rare on land but is common in all the world's oceans. At least 12 animal phyla, as well as Eubacteria and Protista, have marine bioluminescent representatives (Herring 2002). Although bioluminescence has been extensively studied in the pelagic zone (water column), most information on its occurrence in the deep-sea (>200 m) benthos is fragmentary and anecdotal, a result of the difficulty in retrieving intact benthic organisms from trawls and dredges. Most specimens arrive at the surface dead or moribund, or are not examined for their bioluminescence potential before being preserved. While the ability to bioluminesce can be inferred from the presence of photophores or weak bioluminesce in moribund organisms, the true potential of bioluminescent systems must be examined on living, undamaged animals.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
21 welcome.html http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/09bioluminescence/welcome.html
0 http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/
0 The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords. https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/find-data/idn/gcmd-keywords

Tags

  • ocean discovery
  • ocean research
  • explorer
  • transformational research
  • ocean education
  • bioluminescence
  • underwater
  • stewardship
  • oceans
  • marine education
  • protista
  • noaa
  • caribbean sea
  • scientific research
  • ocean literacy
  • undersea
  • photophores
  • ocean exploration and research
  • earth science
  • benthic organisms
  • ocean exploration
  • sea
  • eubacteria
  • systematic research
  • technology
  • exploration
  • science
  • little bahama bank lithoherms and northwest providence channel
  • north atlantic ocean
  • expedition
  • scientific mission

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