Bioluminescence is a treasure trove of interesting and unusual chemistry. "Understanding these luminescence mechanisms contributes to medical and life science research. "The discovery that all three new species are luminescent has allowed us to link taxonomic and ecological findings and establish research that others can readily apply to the study of luminescent organisms," said Jimi. The researchers hope to use their findings to deepen their understanding of the molecular nature of bioluminescence, which could lead to the development of new technologies. As Shinichi Ikeguchi was the former director of Notojima Aquarium and helped to find the worm, it seemed appropriate to name it after him." "Polycirrus ikeguchii, on the other hand, was described from specimens collected in the Notojima region in Japan. "We used the names of Japanese yokai, such as onibi and aoandon, for the new species because the hazy violet-blue bioluminescence emitted by the Polycirrus species is strikingly similar to the descriptions of these creatures found in folklore," said Jimi. The other worm was named Polycirrus ikeguchii in honor of Shinichiro Ikeguchi, the former director of the Notojima Aquarium. It haunts lanterns found in Japanese homes by turning their light an unnatural blue color. Meanwhile, aoandon (blue lantern) is a ghost-like yokai that appears as a woman wearing a white kimono with horns and sharp teeth. In Japanese folklore, onibi (demon fire) describes a will-o'-the-wisp type of yokai, shaped like a small, floating ball of light, that is believed to lead travellers in mountains and forests astray. They named two of the three species Polycirrus onibi and Polycirrus aoandon as a reference to their bluish-violet luminescence. "However, we later discovered what we thought was a single species of Polycirrus was actually three different species."Īs the researchers found the worms in Japan, they gave them Japanese names. "Our previous research on the luminescence of the genus Polycirrus had established it as a valuable subject for bioluminescence studies," he added. Jimi said that when they discovered these new species, they were amazed and felt a sense of duty to document and classify them. They discovered the three new species, all of which emit blue-violet light.
Naoto Jimi (he/him) and Special Assistant Professor Manabu Bessho-Uehara (he/him) at Nagoya University's Graduate School of Science, led a research group with members from AIST, Olympus Corporation, and Japan Underwater Films Corporation, that organized Polycirrus according to their diversity. Without correct identification of the species, comparisons of different results are of limited use. Research remains limited to certain species because of the existence of specimens that are difficult to classify into species. Scientists have studied only a small fraction of the more than 7,000 species of luminescent organisms in the world.
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