Marine bioluminescence

The next conference of the Mercredis d'Endoume organized by the Mediterranean Institute of Biodiversity and Marine and Continental Ecology (IMBE), will be on the theme "Marine bioluminescence". It will be presented by Séverine Martini, CNRS researcher at the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanology (MIO), and will take place on Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at 7 pm at the marine station of Endoume in Marseille and on IMBE TV.

Beyond 200m depth, the dark ocean represents 80% of the ocean volume. Although it is the largest ecosystem on Earth, it remains the least known on the planet. Its importance and the numerous discoveries it holds are however undeniable. Some organisms have the extraordinary ability to emit light through a chemical reaction: bioluminescence. On land this phenomenon is restricted to certain animals such as fireflies, but in the ocean, from the surface to 4000m depth, ¾ of the organisms are bioluminescent, from bacteria to fish, including jellyfish