Research shows ocean bacteria glow to attract those that would eat them

(PhysOrg.com) -- In most situations in the wild, animals develop abilities to help them avoid being eaten. The chameleon, for example, can change its color to avoid being seen by predators. What’s less usual, are animals or organisms that develop abilities that do the opposite, i.e. develop traits that encourage predators to eat them. But that’s just what certain ocean bacteria appear to do. Margarita Zarubin, a marine science grad student in Israel, and her colleagues have shown, as they report in their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that a certain type of bioluminescent bacteria glow to attract the attention of other organisms, so as to be eaten; and they do so as a means of assisted dispersal.

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