A luminous discovery has been made by scientists in the Red Sea. A team of biologists including researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Lomonosov Moscow State University uncovered a beautiful glowing creature.
These creatures have been living in colonies in the Red Sea as garlands of 'fluorescent lanterns'.
These underwater miracles emit a gorgeous green glow just like those Christmas lights that illuminate our homes.
A team of researchers found these incredible creatures using UV light with yellow filters. These stunning green bodied organisms have been living off shells of gastropods. These tiny creatures are a new species of polyp and resemble green lanterns wrapped around mollusks.
As per Vyacheslav Ivanenko, who is one of the scientists behind the surprising discovery, sea hydroids are usually found in colonies and can easily branch off tiny jellyfish. During the day, these mollusks bury themselves in sediment. However, during the night, they crawl out in search of prey.
After the enlightening discovery, several questions have been raised as to how do these creatures choose their hosts, what techniques are used in attracting prey, how do their activities change during the day and how do they make use of their glow during the night.
As per the researchers, this is not the end. There are several species even more amazing and beautiful sitting underwater and waiting to be discovered.
Image Credit: sciencedaily.com
