Scientists have found 3 new species of bioluminescent sharks in deep waters near New Zealand. Imagine swimming and seeing these things come at you:
One of the species, called a "kitefin," is now the largest known vertebrate to glow.
Since the sharks live in the "twilight" zone between the sunny shallow waters and the all-consuming dark of the deep, the glowing is thought to provide two benefits.
First, the sharks' undersides glow the brightest, which would provide "counterillumination" camouflage to hide it from larger beasts lurking below. The glow would cause the shark to blend with the muted light from the sun above.
Second, the glowing would attract smaller prey from above and help it better hunt in the dim light.
The sharks' ability to glow comes from thousands of specialized, light-producing cells.
