Comments on: Marine worms release glowing "bombs" to fool predators

By: Zach Miller

Zach Miller — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:04:03 +0000

Is it just me, or do they look like anomalocarids?

By: Ed Yong

Ed Yong — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:47:26 +0000

Lilian – no, no videos of bomb release. Yeah, I was disappointed too.
Art – interesting idea. What I’ve written is all there is at the moment. These species are entirely new to science. Lots more to discover – including how exactly the luminescence is triggered once the bomb is released.

By: Art

Art — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:41:56 +0000

Has anyone looked closely at the contents of these so called bombs? If would be interesting if they were filled with, oh … I don’t know … perhaps a tasty but gummy substance that the the fish liked but momentarily interfered with the fishes ability to eat. Or a compound that made the fish feel full. Perhaps a hormone that shifted the attention of the fish to mating. I would think it wouldn’t be a poison or something that was aversive. You want the fish to go after them.
It would be interesting to closely analyze what is in those bombs. Maybe they are just a visual distraction and that is all there is to them but it seems to me that serving tasty snacks for the enemy is a wide open opportunity to mess with their sensory systems and behavioral cues.

By: Comrade PhysioProf

Comrade PhysioProf — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:41:08 +0000

That is the coolest motherfucking thing I’ve heard all day!

By: Lilian Nattel

Lilian Nattel — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:19:47 +0000

The photographs are amazing. The videos were interesting but I didn’t see any release of the glow “bombs”–or did I miss something?