Today's Image

Bioluminescent tube worm

Posted by
Deborah Byrd
and
November 17, 2013
Via Dimitri Deheyn at Scripps
The light from this sea creature – called a parchment tube worm (Chaetopterus) – comes from a slimy bioluminescent mucus, released into seawater as puffs of blue light. Image courtesy Dimitri Deheyn, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Used with permission.

Meet Chaetopterus, also called a “parchment tube worm.”

It’s a marine tube worm that makes its home in ooze and produces light via bioluminescence. Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have called the worms’ bioluminescent display dazzling. This display comes in the form of puffs of blue light, released into sea water. These scientists and their colleagues are unraveling the mechanisms behind Chaetopterus’ bioluminescent display.

Read more about the research on this creature from Scripps.

The parchment tube worms get their name from the opaque, cocoon-like cylinders in which they live. They’re found around the world in muddy environments, from shallow bays to deeper ocean canyons.

Courtesy of Dimitri Deheyn, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego
Scripps Institution of Oceanograpy scientist Dimitri Deheyn and colleagues at Georgetown University tracked this worm’s bioluminescence to the generation to a specific “photoprotein.” Image courtesy Dimitri Deheyn, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Used with permission.
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November 17, 2013
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Deborah Byrd

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About the Author:
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.

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