Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Vision And Bioluminescence In The Deep-Sea Benthos, Tamara M. Frank, Sonke Johnsen, Heather D. Bracken-Grissom, Charles Messing, Edith A. Widder

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

During a NOAA-OER funded research cruise, novel collecting techniques were used to collect live, deep-sea benthic animals for studies of bioluminescence and vision. True color images and emission spectra of bioluminescence were obtained from a number of species, including the spiral octocoral Iridogorgia sp., the sea fan Chrysogorgia sp., the sea pen Umbellula sp., and the caridean shrimp Heterocarpusoryx. Electrophysiological studies were conducted on 3 species of decapod crustaceans collected with methods that limited light damage to their photoreceptors. The caridean shrimp, Bathypalaemonella, collected from 1920m, was always found in association with the bioluminescent spiral octocoral Iridogorgia. While …