Download Traveling Exhibition CREATURES OF LIGHT: NATURE`S

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.
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