THERE are many strange things that live on this planet we call Earth, from poisonous worms to carnivorous plants. But what is really intersting are animals and plants that GLOW in the dark. Here on Earth we have fish that glow, fungi that glow, squids that glow and even cloned animals that glow!

1 Living about 6,600 feet below sea level we have the black dragonfish. As its name suggests, it does look somewhat like a dragon and a fish combined. But apart from it’s razor-sharp teeth and the fact that the female can grow up to eight times the size of the male, the black dragonfish glows in the dark. The glowing is caused by the photophores (light-producing organs) in its body. And, seeing that it lives so far below the sea we can understand how glowing is important to its survival but other than just glowing the female, yes only the female, has a chin barbel which is like a bulb that protrudes from her chin that glows so that she can attract preys.

2 If you ever so happen to take a trip to Australia take a stop at the beach in the night, the ocean waves appear to glow. What causes this is the bioluminescent (glowing) algae that reside there that tend to give off a soft blue glow when disturbed. However, it might not be in their best interest to be so small and luminous since unlike the dragonfish, algae are at the bottom of the food chain.

3 Did you know that we have a jellyfish that glows rainbow colours? Well no one else did either until 2009. Discovered early March in 2009 is the very fragile rainbow jellyfish. Being a recent discovery it doesn’t have an official name and unlike other luminescent jellyfish, the aequora jellyfish, this one produces the rainbow colours not because of photo proteins, but because of light reflected from its cilia (tiny hair-like structures that help the jellyfish move). The rainbow jellyfish is very fragile and can break apart as soon as its body comes in contact with a fishing net.

4 Cloning has become very popular among scientist these days as they try to clone animals that live longer and are able to help society. Alba the rabbit is a cloned albino rabbit (fully white with red eyes) she doesn’t glow naturally, but when she is under blue light she glows a bright green. Now, we don’t know what the intention was here but when making Alba scientists used a synthetic mutation of the original wild-type green fluorescent gene found in the aequora jellyfish and thus Alba was created.

5 Mycena silvaelucens or Forest Light is a species of fungi that light up at nights. They can be found in South-east Asia, South America and even in the Caribbean. No one knows why this specific gene of fungi glow and scientists are still researching into that. But next time you suit up to go on a hike, look out for the glowing mushroom.

— Di-Andra Brown