The Japanese coast sparkles in the night

A beach in Japan becomes sparkling by the appearance of countless squids capable of emitting light.

>>>The beach glows

The spectacle occurred on the coast of Toyama City, Honshu Island, Japan from August 18, Roket News reported. It is made up of a concentration of millions of firefly squid, marine animals capable of emitting blue light, when they lay eggs near the shore.

Squid fireflies concentrated near the coast of Toyama city,
Honshu island, Japan in the past few days.

In the daytime, firefly ink works in deep water layers of the Pacific Ocean. By emitting flashing light, they can attract small fishes and use their tentacles to wrap their prey. They just climbed up near the water surface to catch prey when the sun went down, then dived into the deep water again to rest.

The luminescence on the body of firefly squid, which has a maximum body length of 7cm, is made up of a chemical reaction. The glowing parts are in the tentacles and along the back of the firefly squid. Their stomachs are hardly glowing so that predators cannot see them.

By emitting flashing light, they can attract the
Small fish and use their tentacles to wrap prey. (Photo: Rocket News)

Scientists believe that the light of firefly ink helps them find potential partners, disguise, warn opponents or confuse predators so they have a chance to hide. Firefly ink is the only member in them ink capable of distinguishing colors. While most mollusks have only one visual pigment, firefly ink has three visual pigments. They also have a double-layer retina on the back of the eye. Thanks to the ability to distinguish colors, firefly ink recognizes the difference between ambient light and biological light.