Traveling Exhibition CREATURES OF LIGHT: NATURE’S BIOLUMINESCENCE

PRESS KIT IMAGE CAPTIONS

1. Glowing mushrooms This oversized model represents a jack-o-lantern mushroom around 40 times the mushroom’s actual size. The smaller mushrooms grow on decaying wood in the forests of eastern North America. In one of these types of mushrooms, the honey mushroom, only the mycelia—root-like branches that run through the wood—glow with an eerie light known as foxfire. ©AMNH\D. Finnin

2. Bitter oyster mushroom (Panellus stipticus) These bioluminescent mushrooms grow on decaying wood in the forests of eastern North America. © AMNH\J. Sparks

3. Male firefly model This model of Phausis reticulata is 65 times actual size. Found in the central and southeastern U.S., this firefly is sometimes called a blue ghost. It makes light but doesn’t flash. Instead, its glow slowly strengthens and fades as the blue ghost flies a foot or two above the ground, searching for flightless females below. Scientists think this type of glowing is an ancient trait among fireflies; the familiar blinking evolved later. ©AMNH\D. Finnin

4 Fireflies This section of the exhibition evokes an evening lit by fireflies, all signaling to one another in their species-specific “language of light.” ©AMNH\D. Finnin

5. Firefly Communication At this interactive station, visitors can communicate with electronic fireflies by flashing lights to match the patterns of various firefly species. ©AMNH\D. Finnin

6. Firefly image Photographer Tsuneaki Hiramatsu combined slow–shutter speed photos to produce stunning images of firefly signals. This image was photographed in Okayama prefecture, Japan. © Tsuneaki Hiramatsu, digitalphoto.cocolog-nifty.com

7a-b. Glowworms In this re-creation of part of New Zealand’s Waitomo cave system, visitors glimpse a fantastic spectacle above their heads: sticky “fishing lines” dropped from the ceiling by glowworms—bioluminescent gnat larvae—to trap prey. ©AMNH\D. Finnin

8. Bioluminescent bay This interactive environment introduces visitors to the brilliant light displays of Mosquito Bay on Vieques Island in Puerto Rico, where high concentrations of microscopic dinoflagellates create a glowing halo around anything that moves through the water. ©AMNH\D. Finnin

9. Bloody Bay Wall This large-scale, day-and-night interactive image shows the Cayman Islands’ Bloody Bay Wall, a species-rich coral wall that is home to many bioluminescent and biofluorescent animals. Still relatively pristine, Bloody Bay Wall drops down 1,000 feet. ©AMNH\D. Finnin

10. Crystal jelly (Aequorea victoria) When this jellyfish is poked or jostled, spots on its rim light up like an emerald necklace. Its mysterious glow is both bioluminescent and fluorescent. Inside its miniature light organs, a chemical reaction makes blue bioluminescent light, and a fluorescent molecule turns the blue light to green. ©AMNH\D. Finnin

11. Scorpions Minerals can contain fluorescent molecules that glow under ultraviolet light. Scorpions, some spiders, and many insects are fluorescent too. ©AMNH\D. Finnin

12. Ponyfish model Male ponyfish beckon to females with a special pattern of flashing light. The source of the light is a ring of tissue around the male’s throat that is packed with bioluminescent bacteria. Internal structures channel the light to clear patches on the fish’s flanks, where it shines out so females can pick up the signal. ©AMNH\D. Finnin 13. The Deep Ocean (Linophryne algibarbata) Visitors explore the perpetually dark deep ocean, which comprises the vast majority of the planet’s habitable space. Large-scale models depict an array of creatures found here, such as the Anglerfish. ©AMNH\D. Finnin

14. Anglerfish (Linophryne algibarbata) A female anglerfish of the genus Linophryne has her own built-in fishing rod: a modified dorsal fin spine topped with a lure that pulses with bacterial light. She dangles the lure above her gaping jaws while luminous tendrils that look like seaweed trail from her chin. If another fish swims up to investigate, it becomes dinner. ©AMNH\D. Finnin

15. Vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) When threatened by a predator like this hammerhead shark, a vampire squid waves flashing arm tips and startles its enemy with a flurry of light. ©AMNH\D. Finnin

16. Stoplight loosejaw The stoplight loosejaw earned its name for good reason. This fish uses its pulsing red light—the “stoplight”—to spot its prey, a red shrimp. The red shrimp can’t detect the fish’s red light, so the predator catches the crustacean in its oversized and extendable “loose” jaw. The stoplight loosejaw is among the few deep-sea animals that both produce and see red light. ©AMNH\D. Finnin

17. Deep-sea probe This remotely operated vehicle can gather samples and data from the deep ocean floor. An anchor pulls the vessel to the bottom. On a signal, the black cylinders collect organisms from the depths. When the anchor is released, the buoyant glass spheres in the orange casings help the vessel rise to the surface again. Model is displayed courtesy of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. ©AMNH\D. Finnin

18. Touchpad interactive Visitors can learn more by interacting with iPads, which offer engaging videos, animations, photographs, and additional in-depth content about bioluminescence and related phenomena designed exclusively for this exhibition. ©AMNH\D. Finnin

19. Flashlight fish (Anomalops katoptron) Live flashlight fish are on display in the exhibition. Flashlight fish harbor bioluminescent bacteria in an organ under their eyes and use the light produced by the bacteria to communicate, avoid predation, and to attract prey. © FMNH\L. Smith and AMNH\J. Sparks

PLEASE NOTE: These images are supplied free solely for one-time use by print, broadcast, and online media for publicity purposes related to the exhibition Creatures of Light: Nature’s Bioluminescence. No other use of these images is permitted without the express written permission of the American Museum of Natural History and/or the owners of the images.

# # #