A phenomenon occurs within the ocean hidden from human eyes. According to Nature, more than 180 species of fish are able to absorb and re-emit light it in a variety of colors.
"It's like they have their own little private light show going on," John Sparks, a curator of ichthyology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York who helped to lead the work, told Nature. "We were surprised to find it in so many."
The fish species were found in the tropical Pacific Ocean and found the biofluorescence phenomenon in sharks, rays, eels, etc. The glowing fish were caught on camera by using yellow-colored filters, according to Nature.com.
The findings were published in PLoS ONE titled, "The Covert World of Fish Biofluorescence: A Phylogenetically Widespread and Phenotypically Variable Phenomenon."
Nature reports the fishes' coral reef environment "camouflages" their biofluorescence, making it difficult to see with the human eye.
"Many shallow reef inhabitants and fish have the capabilities to detect fluorescent light and may be using biofluorescence in similar fashions to how animals use bioluminescence, such as to find mates and to camouflage," Sparks said in a news release, according to CNN.
"The cryptically patterned gobies, flatfishes, eels, and scorpionfishes -- these are animals that you'd never normally see during a dive," Sparks said. "To our eyes, they blend right into their environment. But to a fish that has a yellow intraocular filter, they must stick out like a sore thumb."
However, Sparks added further research is necessary to explore biofluorescence in these fish, which could involve fluorescent proteins. According to CNN, scientists said the phenomenon serves no practical purpose for the fish.
"This paper is the first to look at the wide distribution of biofluorescence across fishes, and it opens up a number of new research areas," Sparks said, CNN reports.
