We also found a complete retroviral genome. The viruses represent nine different virus families and have negative, positive, or double-stranded RNA genomes. We identified viral sequences from 11 different virus taxa by the RNA-sequencing of two Finnish populations of adult glow-worms. Glow-worms are virologically interesting, as they are non-social and do not feed as adults, and hence their viral transmission may be limited. However, both their DNA and RNA viruses remain unknown. (There are no luminous "flowering" plants, birds, reptiles, amphibians or mammals.The common glow-worms ( Lampyris noctiluca) are best known for emission of green light by their larvae and sexually active adult females. Hydrozoa (Hydroids, Hydromedusae, and Siphonophores)
Radiolarians (single-celled marine organisms) It is not meant to be comprehensive, and there may be other luminous creatures which are not included here. This list is intended to give an idea of the diversity of bioluminescent creatures. If an organism is listed here it means that at least one species in that group is luminescent, not that all such creatures make light. (2.2 MB file.)īelow is a partial text list of bioluminescent organisms. (Below the tree you will find a partial text list of bioluminescent organisms.)ĭownload the reference article. However, note how many times bioluminescence appears to have arisen (more than 40, considering that one group of organisms may have several different chemistries.) It is a remarkably broadly distributed phenomenon.
Neither the tree nor the taxa identified as luminous are set in stone, and there is already new information on both aspects. Here is one possible phylogenetic tree showing the distribution of bioluminescence across the "Tree of Life". Crustaceans which send out coded messages to their own species when it is time to mate.Fishes like Malacosteus and Aristostomias with their own " night vision" light.Tiny single-celled dinoflagellates that make the sea sparkle.A siphonophore which uses red light to lure fish to its tentacles.A squid which changes the color of its luminescence to match moonlight and sunlight.Bioluminescent milky seas where huge populations of bacteria give the ocean an eerie glow.A red tide of dinoflagellates strikes in Monterey Bay.Some especially interesting examples are: Marine bioluminescence is produced by an incredible range of organisms, from bacteriaĪnd single-celled protists to fish and squid. | I n t e r e s t i n g O r g a n i s m s
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