The same could be true for a habitat rife with biofluorescing animals-like a coral reef. "When we go out to catch them, sometimes they're really hard to spot." The hawksbill's shell is very good at concealing the animal in a rocky reef habitat during the day, Gaos explains. (See pictures of insects that are masters of camouflage.) In this instance, it could be a kind of camouflage for the sea turtle. " usually used for finding and attracting prey or defense or some kind of communication," says Gaos. Gaos and Gruber think it's too early to say for sure why these hawksbill sea turtles have the ability to fluoresce, or whether populations in other places do as well. When Gruber examined these animals for a biofluorescent ability, he found that they all glowed red. But when he spoke with locals, the marine biologist discovered a nearby community that kept several captive young hawksbills. Those stolen moments were the only ones Gruber could capture on his trip. Gruber followed the turtle for a short while, but "after a few moments I let it go because I didn't want to harass it." The hawksbill proceeded to dive down into the pitch-black ocean. A yellow filter on the camera allowed the scientists to pick up fluorescing organisms. The marine biologist captured the turtle sighting on a video camera system, whose only artificial illumination was a blue light that matched the blue light of the surrounding ocean. It looked like a big spaceship gliding into view, he recalls: An alien craft with a patchwork of neon green and red all over its head and body. Marine biologist David Gruber, of City University of New York, was in the Solomon Islands in late July to film biofluorescence in small sharks and coral reefs.ĭuring one night dive, his team was on guard for crocodiles that frequent the area, "and there came out of nowhere this fluorescent turtle," says Gruber.
"I've been for a long time and I don't think anyone's ever seen this," says Alexander Gaos, director of the Eastern Pacific Hawksbill Initiative, who was not involved in the find. (See pictures of other animals that glow.) But researchers never expected to find it in a marine reptile.
BIOFLOURESENT SEATURTLE SERIES
The most common colors are green, red, and orange.īiofluorescence is different from bioluminescence, in which animals either produce their own light through a series of chemical reactions, or host bacteria that give off light.Ĭorals fluoresce, and recent research has found the ability in a number of fish, sharks, rays, tiny crustaceans called copepods, and mantis shrimp. The critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle is the first reptile scientists have seen exhibiting biofluorescence-the ability to reflect the blue light hitting a surface and re-emit it as a different color. Yes, this sea turtle is glowing neon green and red.
0 kommentar(er)
