Kiwi researcher helps find largest glowing shark

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-03-02 08:00

New Zealand

Kiwi and Belgian researchers studying sharks off the east coast of New Zealand have found three species that glow - including the largest known luminescent vertebrate, the kitefin shark. These sharks all live in the ‘twilight zone’, the part of the ocean between 200-1000 metres deep, below which sunlight can’t reach. When seen from underneath, the sharks appear dark against the bright surface of the water, so the researchers suggest that these species camouflage themselves with their underbelly glow.

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Research Frontiers, Web page

Journal/
conference: Frontiers in Marine Science

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)

Funder: This work was supported by an F.R.S.– FNRS Grant (T.0169.20) awarded to the Université Catholique de Louvain Marine Biology Laboratory and the Université de Mons Biology of Marine Organisms and Biomimetics Laboratory. JM received a travel grant (35401759) from F.R.S.– FNRS Belgium

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