Shining a light on the origins of bioluminescence ✨✨

A new study led by MBARI collaborators at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History explores the evolution of bioluminescence, nature’s living light show. A team of researchers, including MBARI Senior Scientist Steven Haddock, has learned bioluminescence first evolved in animals at least 540 million years ago in soft corals.

Scientists have long been curious about the evolution of bioluminescence. To tackle the larger question of why bioluminescence evolved, we needed to know when this ability first appeared in animals. In search of the trait’s earliest origins, the team decided to peer back into the evolutionary history of octocorals, an ancient and frequently bioluminescent group of animals that includes soft corals, sea fans, and sea pens. 

Mapping out the branches of the evolutionary tree from fossil records, genetics, and bioluminescent behaviors revealed that some 540 million years ago, the common ancestor of all octocorals was very likely bioluminescent. That is 273 million years earlier than the glowing ostracod crustaceans that previously held the title of earliest evolution of bioluminescence in animals.

MBARI’s Biodiversity and Biooptics Team is working to understand how and why animals produce their stunning luminescence. Learn more about this illuminating research on our website.

Thalassophobia, more particularly the fear of deep sea *animals*, is so funny to me because. They are literally just little guys. They literally are just silly lil guys who want nutrients and krill. They want nothing to do with you they are just silly chilling in the dark. Dont be scared.

missed drawing guts

There are uncountable treasrures hidden in the darkness of the oceans. Deep down where the light does not reach, you just barely can see a sparkle. These are the "Deepsea treasure" dice. They are still raw and need some sanding and inking.

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I found a kamabo co poster with an eye symbol on it(the square). There is an ad that has a big eye on it in splatsville ....

Is Tartar literally advertising ?

Is this foreshadowing????

Mr. Grizz knockoff

I believe tartar was advertising, especially in the octarian world, and i imagine that was how it acquired some of its test subjects. There is a kamabo ad in the haikara walker artbook on page 191. none of this is ever made super clear though.

but i really don't think the posters in inkopolis square in s3 are foreshadowing, but the opposite, they look old and torn, i think that's just showing what was there. tartar was destroyed in s2 and side order i think makes that fact clearer since that story is all about the recovery of the sanitized octarians. as for in splatsville, are you sure it's a kamabo co poster? do you have pictures? there's a few signs i can think of in splatsville that feature eyes and arent kamabo. The only kamabo-adjacent thing in s3 i can think of is the sea cucumber phones, with the logo being the same on the CQ cards and text being in deepsea script

but i dont think tartar has anything to do with this since it is Dead, but rather some other company in the deepsea (likely related to CQ Cumber).

POV: You’re in the middle of the ocean and, for some reason, you need to write something down. To your surprise and delight, you discover that there are about three hundred species of sea pen! Unfortunately for you, none of them can be used for writing. Named for their resemblance to old-fashioned quills, sea pens are actually not single animals: they are colonies of polyps. All of the polyps work together and each has a role to play. There are feeding polyps that catch plankton, as well as polyps that circulate water to keep the colony balanced and upright. Photo: Nhobgood, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons #oceanlife #deepsea #marineanimals #biodiversity #naturegram #naturephotography https://www.instagram.com/p/Cnw2eTrL2mz/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

It's a sunny Sunday somewhere.

Johanne Landbo.

Auroraoarfish!

Our favorite yoga pose—the shrimp squat.

Researchers often find these small shrimp, Hymenopenaeus doris, hanging upside down, motionless in the water.

While performing this “zombie-like“ behavior, the shrimp look a lot like a discarded exoskeleton sinking slowly through the dark midwater. Scientists speculate that the shrimp might reduce their chances of being eaten by mimicking a sinking molt.

This odd behavior might also be an adaptation to conserve energy since the shrimp live at depths where the seawater contains very little oxygen. Animals found in low-oxygen environments have a harder time moving rapidly or for long distances.

Learn more about these deep-sea yogis on our YouTube channel.

The deep sea cephalopod-jelly "Cyanea nozakii Cthylla". While also rumored to be a mythological cryptid, this photo was taken in the deepest depths of Marianas Trench in an earlier 2022 expedition by an experimental AiUV (Autonomous intelligent underwater vehicle).

FINALLY I'm working again on my webcomic lore...so here's Leviathan with his legion of demons

I made some new "Deepsea Jellyfish" dice. The original design was made by @fatefulfabrics in our dicemaking workshop. Its a combination of blue and green resin, some white and black pigment paste and golden glitter!

These dice are still raw and need some sanding and inking.

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Have you met any spooky creatures of the deep today? The organisms feeding on the body of this decaying whale are here to wish you a Happy Halloween!

When a whale dies at sea, its body sinks to the seafloor. Whale falls serve as an important food source for animals from large sharks to small worms and can feed communities for years to decades!

To learn more, and to download an informational poster about whale falls, visit: https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/magazine/5/whale-fall/

jellyfish pngs please...

૮◞ﻌ◟ა Jellyfish Pngs , , , !! 🫧

Inktober Day 6: Golden

I thought you asked for a gold fish for Christmas Dave??? What's the matter????

#inktober #inktober2023 #inktober2023golden #inktoberday6 #fish #gold #goldfish #meme #joke #dumb #comedy #deepsea

orange jellies???