Bioluminescence: Why and how some animals light up?

The quick and short answer for this will be Bioluminescence.

If most of you were wondering, what this term means then here is a very short description of this.

Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism.

Bioluminescence: Why and how some animals light up?

For most of my life, I wonder about this, how can a living creature glow/produce light? Since I got this thought:

We(humans) are also living organisms, we produce:

-Sound

-Vision

-Taste

-Smell

Similarly, some of the organisms produce a bright glow(and hence bioluminescence).

How Bioluminescence is produced?

The light emitted by a bioluminescent organism is produced by energy released from chemical reactions occurring inside (or ejected by) the organism.

If you’ve ever seen a firefly, you have encountered a bioluminescent organism. In the ocean, bioluminescence is not as rare as you might think. Most types of animals, from bacteria to sharks, include some bioluminescent members.

While the functions of bioluminescence are not known for all animals, typically bioluminescence is used to warn or evade predators), lure or detect prey, and communicate between members of the same species.

Now we know how animals light up. It's time to know why it happens.

Why do Animals light up?

1. Feeding: Animals can use their light to lure prey towards their mouths, or even to light up the area nearby so that they can see their next meal a bit better. Sometimes the prey being lured can be small plankton, like those attracted to the bioluminescence around the beak of the Stauroteuthis octopus.
2. Attracting Mates: Animals don't only need to look for and attract food; bioluminescence can also play a part in attracting a mate. The male Caribbean ostracod, a tiny crustacean, uses bioluminescent signals on its upper lips to attract females.
3. Protection: Often animals use a strong flash of bioluminescence to scare off an impending predator. The bright signal can startle and distract the predator and cause confusion about the whereabouts of its target. 

The End Notes

So, that's all in this article. I hope you liked it. If yes, please share this with your single friends and ask them to light up their upper lips to attract and get mates. Haha!

Have a good one guys. Cheers!