Bioluminescent flashes drive nighttime schooling behavior and synchronized swimming dynamics in flashlight fish

Gruber, David F.; Phillips, Brennan; O’Brien, Rory; Boominathan, Vivek; Veeraraghavan, Ashok; Vasan, Ganesh; O’Brien, Peter; Pieribone, Vincent A.; Sparks, John S.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0219852

Cited by 15 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…A well-known exception are nocturnal flashlight fishes. They feature a subocular chemiluminescent light organ just below the pupil [5] that facilitates schooling behaviour at night [6] and glows sufficiently strong to illuminate and detect nearby prey [7]. By being next to the visual axis, it is ideally positioned to induce and detect retroreflective eyeshine (cat's eyes) in nearby organisms [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Redirection of ambient light improves predator detection in a diurnal fish

et al. 2020

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Cases where animals use controlled illumination to improve vision are rare and thus far limited to chemiluminescence, which only functions in darkness. This constraint was recently relaxed by studies on Tripterygion delaisi , a small triplefin that redirects sunlight instead. By reflecting light sideways with its iris, it has been suggested to induce and detect eyeshine in nearby micro-prey. Here, we test whether ‘diurnal active photolocation’ also improves T. delaisi 's ability to detect the cryptobenthic sit-and-wait predator Scorpaena porcus, a scorpionfish with strong daytime retroreflective eyeshine. Three independent experiments revealed that triplefins in which light redirection was artificially suppressed approached scorpionfish significantly closer than two control treatments before moving away to a safer distance. Visual modelling confirmed that ocular light redirection by a triplefin is sufficiently strong to generate a luminance increase in scorpionfish eyeshine that can be perceived by the triplefin over 6–8 cm under average conditions. These distances coincide well with the closest approaches observed. We conclude that light redirection by small, diurnal fish significantly contributes to their ability to visually detect cryptic predators, strongly widening the conditions under which active sensing with light is feasible. We discuss the consequences for fish eye evolution.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Redirection of ambient light improves predator detection in a diurnal fish

et al. 2020

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“…In addition, sexually dimorphic fluorescence patterning has also recently been observed in multiple lineages of marine bony and cartilaginous fishes (Sparks et al, 2014;Gruber et al, 2016). Based on these and other studies, it appears that biofluorescence in marine fishes functions in many of the same ways as bioluminescence, specifically for communication, predator avoidance, or prey attraction (Davis et al, 2014;Gruber et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

First Report of Biofluorescence in Arctic Snailfishes and Rare Occurrence of Multiple Fluorescent Colors in a Single Species

Gruber

Sparks

2021

American Museum Novitates

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Biofluorescence has recently been reported to be phylogenetically widespread and phenotypically variable across bony fishes, and is most common in tropical coral reef lineages. Here we provide the first documentation of prominent biofluorescence in Arctic fishes including two juvenile specimens of Liparis gibbus (variegated snailfish) collected from the coastal waters of Eastern Greenland, as well as an adult L. tunicatus (kelp snailfish) collected in the Bering Strait off of Little Diomede Island, AK. Observations of L. gibbus were made during nighttime dives within kelp forests in iceberg habitats in Southeastern Greenland in August 2019. The juvenile L. gibbus specimens exhibit both green (523-530 nm) and red (674-678 nm) biofluorescence on discrete anatomical areas, which provides a rare example of multiple fluorescent colors emitted from a single individual. Notably, the adult L. tunicatus emitted only red fluorescence in a bilaterally symmetrical pattern of discrete red dots and blotches. Potential weak green biofluorescence was also noted in a flatfish (Hippoglossoides platessoides) collected in Greenland, but in no other Arctic species. As the distribution and function of biofluorescence in marine fishes is further examined, this report adds context to its widespread geographical and environmental distributions, and shows that, although rare, biofluorescence does occur in Arctic fish lineages.

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“…For intra-species communication, it permits to produce sudden flashes or specific signal/rhythm of light (e.g. schooling behavior (Gruber et al, 2019)).…”

Section: Light Organs Are Under Well-established Controlsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reviews and syntheses: Bacterial bioluminescence – ecology and impact in the biological carbon pump

Tanet¹,

Martini²,

Casalot³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. Around thirty species of marine bacteria can emit light, a critical characteristic in the oceanic environment where the major part is deprived of sunlight. In this article, we first review current knowledge on bioluminescent bacteria symbiosis in light organs. Then, focusing on gut-associated bacteria, we highlight that recent works, based on omics methods, confirm previous claims about the prominence of bioluminescent bacterial species in fish guts. Such host-symbiont relationships are relatively well established and represent important knowledge in the bioluminescence field. However, the consequences of bioluminescent bacteria continuously released from light organ and through the digestive tracts to the seawater have been barely taken into account at the ecological and biogeochemical level. For too long neglected, we propose to consider the role of bioluminescent bacteria, and to reconsider the biological carbon pump taking into account the bioluminescence effect (bioluminescence shunt hypothesis). Indeed, it has been shown that marine snow and fecal pellets are often luminous due to microbial colonization, which makes them a visual target. These luminous particles seem preferentially consumed by organisms of higher trophic levels in comparison to non-luminous ones. As a consequence, the sinking rate of consumed particles could be either increased (due to repackaging) or reduced (due to sloppy feeding or coprophagy/coprorhexy) which can imply a major impact on global biological carbon fluxes. Finally, we propose a strategy, at a worldwide scale, relying on recently developed instrumentation and methodological tools to quantify the impact of bioluminescent bacteria in the biological carbon pump.

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Bioluminescent flashes drive nighttime schooling behavior and synchronized swimming dynamics in flashlight fish

Cited by 15 publications

References 38 publications

Redirection of ambient light improves predator detection in a diurnal fish

Redirection of ambient light improves predator detection in a diurnal fish

First Report of Biofluorescence in Arctic Snailfishes and Rare Occurrence of Multiple Fluorescent Colors in a Single Species

Reviews and syntheses: Bacterial bioluminescence – ecology and impact in the biological carbon pump

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