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Article: Glow-in-the-dark shark has killer smudge.(dark patch on cookie-cutter shark attracts prey)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- August 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A dark band below the jaw of a luminescent dwarf shark reveals a new kind of underwater dirty trick.
Viewed from beneath, the soft glow from the shark's many light-emitting cells blends in with dim light filtering from the sky and disguises the predator's outline. Against the glow, the dark chin patch looks like just the sort of little fish a predator such as a tuna is hunting, suggests Edith A. Widder from Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Fort Pierce, Fla. The big fish darts up for the kill--only to be bitten itself by the smaller predator called a cookie-cutter shark.
This shark does what its name suggests: It gouges round, or ...