Sea fireflies adapted their threatening glow to attract mates

By Jake Buehler

A pistillate ostracod releasing bluish bioluminescent mucus

Elliot Lowndes

Roughly fractional of each taxon of ostracods – bean-shaped crustaceans astir the size of a sesame effect – tin eject clouds of dazzling bluish mucus to startle would-be predators. But the males successful 1 radical of these “sea fireflies” successful the Caribbean usage the mucus to make glowing patterns successful an elaborate creation to pull mates.

To unravel however this endowment evolved from a instrumentality of warfare to a cardinal portion of mating rituals, Todd Oakley astatine the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his …

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