At the tips of its tentacles, a small jellyfish carries spots that glow green under blue light. Why would a marine animal spend energy to glow?
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In Olindias formosus, these fluorescent spots attract prey. In the laboratory, young rockfish came noticeably closer to the tentacles when the fluorescence was excited and visible, and much less under yellow or white light.
Still, the role of these proteins remains debated. Several proposed explanations do not account for why animals that are neither bioluminescent nor symbiotic carry them.
The experiment applies only to this jellyfish and this laboratory setup. It says nothing about all fluorescent proteins.
