Nature · 2
What do Hawaiian bobtail squid hatchlings do shortly after hatching to obtain their own source of glowing light?
Answer
They ingest bioluminescent bacteria from the water and cultivate them in a specialized light organ
Hawaiian bobtail squid hatchlings actively take up free-living Vibrio fischeri bacteria from seawater and house them in a dedicated light organ, effectively farming the microbes for light.
💡 Did you know?
Glowing squid hatchlings deliberately eat bioluminescent bacteria and farm them in pouches, essentially raising a light-producing pet inside their own body.
Other options people guess
- They inherit the glowing bacteria directly from their mother's egg yolk
- They synthesize their own light-producing chemicals without any bacteria
- They absorb light-emitting algae through their skin like coral do
Topics
- bioluminescence
- squid
- symbiosis
- marine-biology
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