That's no illusion. It's a glowing fish. And I'm Sandrit Singh Lo with the Lowdown on Science. Why do they glow like that anyway? Is it magic? No. Emily Carr and team at the American Museum of Natural History wanted answers. Using special lights, they spotted biofluorescence when fish absorb blue light and re-emit it as green or red. They surveyed hundreds of species and mapped glowing traits onto the fish family tree.
And biofluorescence evolved independently over a hundred times across different ecosystems dating back over a hundred million years. Reef fishes develop their glow the fastest. Why glow? Scientists think it helps fish hide, talk to each other, or even find love. Now, for my next trick, fluorescence.
✨ This transcript was generated by Metacast using AI and may contain inaccuracies. Learn more about transcripts.