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Aequorea victoria, also sometimes called the crystal jelly, is a bioluminescent hydrozoan jellyfish, or hydromedusa, that is found off the west coast of North America. The species is best known as the source of aequorin (a photoprotein ), and green fluorescent protein (GFP) ; two proteins involved in bioluminescence.
Thus, the jellyfish may change the color of its bioluminescence with depth. However, a collapse in the population of jellyfish in Friday Harbor , where GFP was originally discovered, has hampered further study of the role of GFP in the jellyfish's natural environment.
Bioluminescence is used by a variety of animals to mimic other species. Many species of deep sea fish such as the anglerfish and dragonfish make use of aggressive mimicry to attract prey. They have an appendage on their heads called an esca that contains bioluminescent bacteria able to produce a long-lasting glow which the fish can control. The ...
Crown jellyfish are able to make light through bioluminescence. When they are touched, their bells will light up. Otherwise, the bell of a crown jellyfish will look transparent when undisturbed. When they are attacked, crown jellyfish are able to startle, mislead, and distract their predators with the light that they produce.
The smallest jellyfish are the peculiar creeping jellyfish in the genera Staurocladia and Eleutheria, which have bell disks from 0.5 millimetres (1 ⁄ 32 in) to a few millimeters in diameter, with short tentacles that extend out beyond this, which these jellyfish use to move across the surface of seaweed or the bottoms of rocky pools; [51 ...
Scientists and bioluminescence enthusiasts have enjoyed a long streak of electrifying waves across Southern California. A specific type of algae bloom creates a bioluminescent effect, but catching ...
This form of bioluminescence imaging allows scientists to test drugs in the pre-clinical stages cheaply. Another protein, aequorin, found in certain jellyfish, produces blue light in the presence of calcium. It can be used in molecular biology to assess calcium levels in cells.
According to ABC News, bioluminescence is caused by dinoflagellates, a single-celled organism nicknamed "sea sparkles," and they emit light when stimulated by a disturbances in the water.