Photos, Video: Glorious, Glowing "Creatures Of Light" At American Museum Of Natural History
14 photos
<p>Jellyfish!</p>
<p>People, there are phosphorescent MUSHROOMS <br/></p>
<p>Inside "A Mysterious Cave: Glowworms," which is a "re-creation of part of New Zealandâs Waitomo cave system" where "visitors glimpse a fantastic spectacle above their heads: sticky âfishing linesâ dropped from the ceiling by glowwormsâbioluminescent gnat larvaeâto trap prey."</p>
<p>The "Creatures Of Light" exhibit</p>
<p>The floor is pretty interesting, from the flickering glow worms!<br/></p>
<p>Trippy!<br/></p>
<p>"When threatened by a predator like this hammerhead shark, a vampire squid waves flashing arm tips and startles its enemy with a flurry of light."</p>
<p>Glowworms!<br/></p>
<p>"The stoplight loosejaw earned its name for good reason. This fish uses its pulsing red lightâthe âstoplightââto spot its prey, a red shrimp. The red shrimp canât detect the fishâs red light, so the predator catches the crustacean in its oversized and extendable âlooseâ jaw. The stoplight loosejaw is among the few deep-sea animals that both produce and see red light."<br/></p>
<p>"This large-scale, day-and-night interactive image shows the Cayman Islandsâ Bloody Bay Wall, a species-rich coral wall that is home to many bioluminescent and biofluorescent animals. Still relatively pristine, Bloody Bay Wall drops down 1,000 feet."<br/></p>
<p>A close-up of Bloody Bay: "This interactive mural captures a slice of life on Bloody Bay Wall, off Little Cayman Island in the Caribbean Sea. In daylight, creatures on this coral wall can be seen in fine detail. The same areas look very different at night, when lit by high-energy spotlights. The brilliant patches of red, green, and orange come from corals, fishes, and sea anemones that are fluorescent, not bioluminescent. The vivid colors only appear when the animals are illuminated by specific wavelengths of light."<br/></p>
<p>Model of an anglerfish: "A female anglerfish of the genus Linophryne has her own built-in fishing rod: a modified dorsal fin spine topped with a lure that pulses with bacterial light. She dangles the lure above her gaping jaws while luminous tendrils that look like seaweed trail from her chin. If another fish swims up to investigate, it becomes dinner."<br/></p>
<p>There are interactive touchpads all around<br/></p>