© J. MALLEFET FNRS-UCL
The velvet belly lantern shark has spines on its back for self-defense—and it advertises them to predators with two bioluminescent arcs on its dorsal fins. The arcs either mimic the spines or illuminate them in order to scare off predators, according to a paper published today (February 21) in Scientific Reports.
“It’s a way to say: ‘Don’t bite me, I’m dangerous, I have spines on my back,’” Julien Claes, one of the paper’s authors and a biologist at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, told BBC News.
The sharks, which are less than 60 centimeters (24 inches) long, live 200 to 1,000 meters (around 700 to 3,300 feet) below the surface. Animals at this depth rarely have glowing backs unless they’re predators trying to ...
