Oceans bioluminescence

However, oceanic bioluminescence in some regions is not due to dinoflagellates but to a number of zooplankton groups (28). The color of the bioluminescence from other organisms varies with taxonomic group (29-32). For an accurate calibration, both the phototube spectral sensitivity and the types of organisms being stimulated must be known. 

Bioluminescence functions in mating (fireflies, the Bahama fireworm), in the search for prey (angler fish, Photmus fireflies), camouflage (hatchet fish, squid), schooling (euphausiid shrimp), and to aid deep water fish (flashlight fish, Photoblepharon to see in the dark ocean depths. 

Swift, E., and Meunier, V. (1976). Effects of light intensity on division rate, stimulable bioluminescence and cell size of the oceanic dinoflagellates Dissodinium lunula, Pyrocystis fusiformis and P. noctiluca. ]. Pbycol. 12 14-22. 

Luminescent bacteria are found in various ecological niches, but most species are present in the ocean where some live in symbiosis with fish. Light emission can be switched on and off and it is the present thesis that bacterial bioluminescence goes by a sensitized chemiluminescence mechanism luminescent bacteria are placed into two genera, Vibrio and... 

Because bioluminescence in marine surface waters (upper 100 m) is primarily due to small plankton, it can he successfully characterized by relatively simple photometer systems. The two basic types of bioluminescence detectors are an open type that views directly out into the seawater and a closed type that views a closed volume through which seawater is pumped. The bioluminescence variability is an interdependent phenomenon often associated with changes in physical and chemical parameters. For example, ocean frontal regions are almost always associated with enhanced levels of bioluminescence. Bioluminescence spectral content and signal kinetics often indicate the type of organisms present. 

Because biological and chemical variations in the upper ocean are not random, but rather interdependent phenomena often associated with specific physical events (e. g., upwelling, divergence, convergence, and stratification), correlations should exist between the occurrence of bioluminescence and other physical and chemical parameters. Our prime objective was to determine if correlations could be established between the occurrence of bioluminescence and the distribution of other oceanographic variables. Specifically, we wanted to physically characterize bioluminescence in the marine environment, determine how bioluminescence can be used to characterize planktonic communities in situ, and determine the relationships between the spatial and temporal distribution of planktonic bioluminescence with physical, chemical, and biological variables in the open ocean. 

Since 1979, we have measured marine bioluminescence in diverse ocean waters ranging from tropical waters off St. Croix, V.I. to 73° N latitude to observations made under the pack ice of the Beaufort Sea, and finally from the submersibles Alvin and Johnson Sea Link to depths of 3650 m. This chapter describes the instrumentation developed for this purpose and presents examples of our measurements to date. 

Organisms appear to use bioluminescence for different purposes. In the ocean depths, bioluminescence probably aids vision and recognition. Other purposes might include mating and defense against prey. 

Tsuji FI, Leisman G. K /Na -triggered bioluminescence in the oceanic squid Symplectoteuthis oualaniensis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1981 78 6719-23. 

The majority of bioluminescent organisms live in the ocean, but there are many terrestrial forms, notably beetles, that exploit bioluminescence. The bioluminescence of fireflies... 

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