![]() ![]() It can be hard to find a suitable mate in a vast, dark ocean (especially without the help of an anglerfish tinder) so when a male anglerfish finds his preferred female companion, he grabs on and doesn’t let go. Anglerfish appear to live mostly solitary lives except, of course, once they have found a mate. Only female anglerfish are bioluminescent and rely on bacterial symbionts to produce their light. Anglerfish live in the deep-ocean where there is no sunlight, extremely high pressures, and extremely low temperatures. The little that we do know about these fish is pretty dang cool, though. – Just a few examples of the many different species of bioluminescent anglerfishes (image from wikimedia commons) Only a few anglerfish have been caught on video in their natural habitat and most of our knowledge of these fish comes from specimens that are caught in nets and preserved for later examination. ![]() While their striking (and, admittedly, slightly spooky) appearance has garnered the fish widespread attention, we still do not know a whole lot about anglerfish biology because they live in waters that are often too deep for scientists to reach. There are over 160 species of deep-sea anglerfishes living in the deep, bathypelagic waters of our ocean (between 1000-4000 m below the surface). Of course, one of the most notorious bioluminescent critters is the anglerfish, named for the glowing lure which protrudes from its head. The wonders of the weird and wacky anglerfish An animal that cannot inherently produce its own bioluminescence may instead develop a symbiotic relationship with bacteria – the animal provides a safe home for the glowing bacteria somewhere in its body and, in exchange, the bacteria provides the animal with the bioluminescent glow it could not otherwise produce. Oftentimes, symbionts are bacteria capable of producing their own bioluminescence. These organisms can either produce their own light (as is the case for lanternfishes and dragonfishes) or they rely on help from other organisms, called symbionts. A wide variety of organisms have evolved the capacity to create light: bacteria, insects, fungi, and fish are just some of the individuals that use bioluminescence. In fact, bioluminescence is common in our world and found even in shallow waters and on land. Many animals make their own light in a process known as bioluminescence. ![]() Yet, these animals are not condemned to a life devoid of light. Organisms living in the inky black waters of the deep-ocean see no sunlight – they live at depths far greater than warm, life-breeding sunlight can penetrate. Just a few of the many examples of bioluminescent organisms including a) bacterial colonies (image from wikimedia) b) fungi (image from wikipedia) c) a firefly (image from wikimedia) and d) a pyrosome (image from wikipedia) Diverse deep-sea anglerfishes share a genetically reduced luminous symbiont that is acquired from the environment. ![]()
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