While doing some research on our fellow Herps, I found a brief mention that there has been a discovery of a Hawksbill Sea Turtle having biofluorescense. At first, I was unsure about the truth of it, so I Googled it and found that National Geographic reported this to be true! According to the article, this is the first time this has EVER been seen in reptiles.
During a night dive in the Solomon Islands last year, divers noticed a large, fluorescent "spaceship" gliding through the dark waters. This Hawksbill sea turtle was glowing neon green and red on its head and body. This amazing and calm turtle was recorded on video to show evidence of its biofluorescence. This red/green flourescence has only been observed in coral.
Although this initial turtle was not tagged or recorded, further evidence showed that most of these turtles do glow red. The green fluorescence may have an algal cause, but researchers are not sure. Due to the Hawksbill being pretty elusive and endangered, this has never been seen nor tested before this instance. Although still unsure what the causes or reasoning for this ability, researchers now have understood that the Hawksbill has another ability that makes it unique to other species sea turtles.
In order to study this behavior without endangering an already rare species, researchers have begun to study a (slightly) and still endangered sea turtle: the green turtle. This species is closely related to the Hawksbill and may provide more information on biofluorescence among sea turtles.
Here is the link to the National Geographic article:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/09/150928-sea-turtles-hawksbill-glowing-biofluorescence-coral-reef-ocean-animals-science/
2 comments:
Super interesting! I wonder if anyone has tested other sea turtles (or other reptiles in general) for biofluorescence.
Also check out Savannah's article review on biofluorescent salamanders!
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