6/30/2023 0 Comments Download bioluminescent worms![]() This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology 2017. The polynoids, Harmothoe imbricata and Lepidonotus squamatus from the North Atlantic are both benthic predators preying on small invertebrates but only H. In this review, we explore the world of luminous annelids, particularly focusing on the current knowledge regarding their taxonomic and ecological diversity and discussing the putative functions and chemistries of their bioluminescent systems. This diversity of bioluminescence colors and patterns suggests that light production in annelids might be involved in a variety of different functions, including defensive mechanisms like sacrificial lures or aposematic signals, and intraspecific communication systems. ![]() Just in the past two years, researchers have found dozens of new species in the oceans. Some, like slow-growing bacteria that inhabit the deep ocean crust, barely move at all. Some swim in deep water or crawl and wiggle near or on the seafloor. ![]() This great taxonomic and ecological diversity is matched by the wide array of bioluminescent colors-including yellow light, which is very rare among marine taxa-different emission wavelengths even between species of the same genus, and varying patterns, chemical reactions and kinetics. Every year, scientists discover new marine species. The ecological diversity of luminous annelids is unparalleled, with species occupying a great variety of habitats including both terrestrial and marine ecosystems, from coastal waters to the deep-sea, in benthic and pelagic habitats from polar to tropical regions. Within the phylum Annelida, bioluminescence is widespread, present in at least 98 terrestrial and marine species that represent 45 genera distributed in thirteen lineages of clitellates and polychaetes. Luminous forms are found in a wide range of taxonomic groups from bacteria to vertebrates, although the great majority of bioluminescent organisms are marine taxa. Bioluminescence, the ability to produce light by living organisms, has evolved independently in numerous lineages across the tree of life.
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