The range and variety of bioluminescent organisms

Luminous species are widely scattered taxonomically, with no discernible pattern. Many luminous shrimps are known but no luminous crabs. Many luminous squids are known but only a single luminous octopus (Callistoctopus arakawai of Japan). Again, luminous centipedes and millipedes are not uncommon, but luminous scorpions and spiders are apparently nonexistent.

Almost half the animal phyla contain luminous forms, but the number of representatives is very small compared with the total number of known animal species. The protists are not so rich in luminous species but are greatest in sheer abundance, especially in tropical seas. In fact, the majority of luminous organisms are marine.

The ocean surface in many parts of the tropics is dense with single-celled luminous planktonic organisms, primarily dinoflagellates, that glow when stimulated mechanically, as by the churning of the waves, or, when washed ashore, by the pressure of a foot. Some organisms exhibit a 24-hour rhythm of light intensity, highest at night and lowest during the day.

Among crustaceans, luminous species are especially remarkable in the copepods, shrimps, and ostracods. Luminous copepods are widely distributed throughout the world’s waters. Some are surface dwellers, while others live in the deep sea. Two famous groups of luminous copepods are Pleuromma and Metridia. Some shrimps (Hoplophorus) emit a luminous secretion from luminous organs, while others possess true light organs (photophores), which consist of a lens, reflector, and light-emitting photogenic cells. Of the three or four species of the ostracod genus Vargula (also known as Cypridina) known to be luminous, the most famous is V. hilgendorfii (or C. hilgendorfii), found in the coastal waters and sands of Japan. That tiny, shelled organism, which ejects a blue luminous secretion into the water when disturbed, may be collected and dried for the light-emitting components, which are active indefinitely.

Other organisms responsible for large patches of light in the ocean are jellyfish and other coelenterates and comb jellies (ctenophores). A large proportion of the floating, transparent siphonophores and the feathery, bottom-dwelling sea pens are luminous. Many of the hydroids and jellyfish are also luminous. Sea pens (Pennatula), sea cactus (Cavernularia), and sea pansy (Renilla) are colonies, which upon stimulation generate a wave of luminous light that travels down the organism. The luminescence in these organisms appears to be under nervous control.

Among annelids, marine worms and earthworms both contain luminous forms. Odontosyllis, the fire worm of Bermuda, swarms in great numbers a few days after the full moon. Female worms, about 2 cm (almost 1 inch) in length, rise to the surface shortly after sunset and swim in circles while ejecting a luminous secretion. Smaller male worms swim to where the females are circling and mate. The male is also luminous, but the light is intermittent and of intracellular character. It is not certain whether luminescence has any relationship to mating, since nonluminous Odontosyllis exhibits similar courtship behaviour. Chaetopterus spends its life in a tube of parchment membrane, with openings at both ends. It luminesces when disturbed, but it is doubtful whether the luminescence has any special purpose. Polynoe and Polycirrus are luminous annelids that usually live in sand or rock. Luminous mollusks include Pholas (a bivalve), Phyllirrhoe (a floating nudibranch), Planaxis (a marine gastropod), Latia (a freshwater limpet), and squids (cephalopods).

The luminous squids and deep-sea fishes possess the most complicated light organs; they consist of photogenic cells, reflector, lens body, and, in certain cases, colour filters. Of the open-ocean squids (oegopsids) such as Lycoteuthis, Histioteuthis, and Enoploteuthis, as many as 75 percent are self-luminous; i.e., light results not from symbiotic luminous bacteria but from an internal biochemical reaction. In deep-sea squids, the light organ is often found on the eyelid or on the eyeball itself. In others—e.g., Watasenia scintillans—light organs are present also at the end of the tentacles and over other surfaces of the body.

Deep-sea anglerfish, hatchetfish, and lantern fish are among the best-known luminescent fishes. In most such fishes, luminescence is produced intracellularly; the light is emitted by special cells called photocytes. The anatomical structure of the luminous organs of many fishes is similar to that of squids. Deep-sea fishes have photophores along the body, under the eyes, and often on barbels or antennae. The typical luminous organ consists of a lens, luminous body, colour filter, and reflector. The light is often under the fish’s nervous control, and after death the ability to luminesce disappears rapidly. Whether the light-producing components are developed by the fish or ingested by the fish is not clear. A distinct possibility exists that a fish feeds on crustaceans such as Vargula organisms and uses their light-emitting components for its own light production.

A few genera of deep-sea fishes and several families of shallow-water fishes produce light by virtue of harbouring symbiotic luminous bacteria within light organs. That type of organ is endowed with a rich blood supply that nourishes and maintains the luminous bacteria. It appears that each fish species becomes infected with a specific bacterial type. The bacteria-filled organ is continuously luminous, but the light can be controlled either by melanophores scattered over the surface of the organ or by a black membrane that may be mechanically drawn over the organ. Control is brought about by the contraction and expansion of melanophores, or pigment granules. Expansion of the melanophores cuts off the light, whereas contraction allows light to pass through. The well-known flashlight fishes (Photoblepharon) of Indonesia possess large light organs beneath the eyes. The light is extinguished when a fold of black skin is drawn upward over the organ.

A few species of deep-sea sharks, however, can produce light without partnerships with luminous bacteria. The kitefin shark (Dalatias licha), the blackbelly lanternshark (Etmopterus lucifer), and the southern lanternshark (E. granulosus) appear to generate light in their luminous organs through chemical reactions controlled by hormones.

An indirect-emission type of luminous organ is present in some fish. The luminous organ is connected to the gut via a short duct and is often embedded in tissue. The light passes to the outside through the translucent keel and ventral muscles, as in Leiognathus, Acropoma (lanternbellies), and Archamia.

Among other higher animals, the chordate subphylum Tunicata contains luminous forms. The genus Pyrosoma includes several species that account for the brilliant luminescence among macroplanktons of the seas, giving rise to the name “fire body.” Pyrosoma is a floating colonial form, pelagic and translucent. The colonies usually reach a length of 3 to 10 cm (about 1 to 4 inches), and each individual is about 5 mm (0.2 inch) long.

Luminous bacteria are all marine forms, requiring salt for growth and luminescence, and are widely distributed throughout the oceans of the world. The most common are Vibrio and Photobacterium species. While luminous bacteria come in various shapes, they do not form clusters or chains, as do many other bacteria. The light of an individual bacterium, of course, cannot be seen with the naked eye, but the light from a liquid or agar culture containing billions of bacteria is readily visible. The light is bluish and continuous. Many luminous bacteria live in the light organs of fish and squids, without adversely affecting their hosts.

Small whitish luminous fungi (“foxfire”) commonly grow on deadwood in forests, particularly where the ground is moist and wet; these forms predominate in the tropics. The light of fungi ranges from blue to green and yellow, depending on the species. Among the large luminous forms are the ghost fungus (Omphalotus nidiformis, formerly Pleurotus lampas) of Australia and the jack-o’-lantern (O. olearius, also known as Clitocybe illudens) of the United States, which reach approximately 13 cm (about 5 inches) in diameter.

Luminosity among land animals is not associated with any particular habitat, but almost all these forms are nocturnal. The centipede Orphaneus, widely distributed in tropical Asia, gives off luminous secretions from each segment. The entire body of Luminodesmus sequoiae, a millipede found in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, glows with a diffuse light. Luminous insects include some true flies (order Diptera), notably Arachnocampa luminosa, the larva of which luminesces a greenish blue from a knob at the end of its body. The larvae dangle at the ends of filaments that hang from the ceilings of caves in New Zealand. Luminous beetles include the fireflies and the elaterid Pyrophorus (the click beetle, or cucujo in South America). The luminescent larvae of fireflies and some luminescent wingless adults are known as glowworms. The female Diplocladon hasseltii, called starworm, or diamond worm, gives off a continuous greenish blue luminescence from three spots on each segment of the body, forming three longitudinal rows of light, the appearance of which inspired the common name night train. Phrixothrix, the railroad worm, possesses two longitudinal rows, with a red luminous spot on the head.

The limpet Latia neritoides, found in streams around Auckland, New Zealand, is the only strictly freshwater luminous form known. The so-called firefly shrimp (hotaru ebi) is found in Lake Suwa, Japan, but the light is from luminous bacteria that infect the shrimp and kill it in about 24 hours.

Biochemical events of light emission

In most bioluminescent organisms, the essential light-emitting components are the oxidizable organic molecule luciferin and the enzyme luciferase, which are specific for different organisms. The present custom is to use generic names according to origin—e.g., firefly luciferin and luciferase, Vargula luciferin and luciferase. The luciferin-luciferase reaction is actually an enzyme-substrate reaction in which luciferin, the substrate, is oxidized by molecular oxygen, the reaction being catalyzed by the enzyme luciferase, with the consequent emission of light. The light emission continues until all the luciferin is oxidized. That type of reaction is found in fireflies, Vargula, Latia, and many types of fish, such as lantern fish, hatchetfish, Apogon, and Parapriaeanthus.

In firefly luminescence, the substance adenosine triphosphate (ATP) initially reacts with firefly luciferase, ionic magnesium, and firefly luciferin to form a complex (luciferase-luciferyl-adenylate) and pyrophosphate. That complex then reacts with molecular oxygen to emit light. Enough energy is liberated in the last step to convert the electronic configuration of the luciferase-luciferyl-adenylate complex from a low-energy ground state to a high-energy excited state. The high-energy complex then loses energy by radiating a photon of visible light and returns to the ground state.

Luminescent bacteria employ the enzymatic oxidation of reduced flavin mononucleotide (FMNH₂). In the complete reaction, bacterial luciferase reacts with FMNH₂ and oxygen to form a long-lived intermediate complex, which then reacts with a long-chain aliphatic aldehyde molecule (e.g., decanal) to emit light.

The significance of bioluminescence in research

The luminescent reaction of the firefly has been used as an assay method for the determination of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), an important metabolic substance used by all living cells in numerous reactions in which energy is either stored or expended. The glow of a specially blended extract of firefly lanterns eventually dims and disappears as ATP is broken down. The addition of fresh ATP, either as a pure chemical or as a constituent of a tissue extract, immediately restores the luminescence. The intensity of the glow is a direct measure of the amount of ATP present in the extract. That assay method has been widely used in medical and biological research to determine the amount of ATP present in extracts of cells and tissues. The study of reactions involving ATP has led to a detailed understanding of the mechanisms of energy conversion in cells. The firefly reaction is one of the few reactions in which ATP is directly involved with light emission. All other bioluminescent reactions involve compounds that are chemically distinct from ATP.