A Shrimp Vomits a Glowing Cloud

12/5/2012

Startle this Parapandulus shrimp, and it will spit a glowing cloud in your direction, illuminating you for predators to see.

To produce these van Gogh-like swirls, the shrimp vomits up chemicals that react together to produce light. This particular shrimp was photographed in the Bahamas, during an expedition in the Johnson-Sea-Link submersible near the sea floor. The mission? To poke sea creatures and see if they would glow.

Check out more bioluminescent animals at National Geographic News.

Shrimp photo via by Sönke Johnsen NOAA-OER/National Geographic News

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A Shrimp Vomits a Glowing Cloud

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