NEWSWEEK — Scientists have identified a substance that enables some sharks to give off a bright green glow, which they believe only other sharks can see.
The authors of the paper, published in the journal iScience, previously showed that swell sharks—who live in California’s Monterey Bay to southern Mexico and the coast of Chile—are biofluorescent. That means they soak up light—in this case ambient blue ocean light—and use it to give off light in a different color, usually green, red or orange.
…
Matthew Davis, an associate professor of biology at St. Cloud State University who did not work on the study, told Newsweek: “Previous studies have highlighted the importance of proteins such as green-fluorescent protein as a mechanism of fluorescence in various animal lineages. This study highlights how little we still know about how bioflourescence functions across the tree of life by describing how metabolites are involved in shark fluorescence.”
Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/these-sharks-glow-green-dark-scientists-now-know-why-1452771
