📸 PhotoPhoto: self · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Sea firefly
Vargula hilgendorfii (Sea firefly · ウミホタル)
Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Researchers at Shimane University in Japan placed sea fireflies in groups inside a 30 mm-diameter Petri dish to observe their directional response to light. The dish is slightly larger than a single Korean 500-won coin (about 26.5 mm) (Comparison).
- 💡 A research paper posted on bioRxiv notes that sea fireflies in Japan eat raw chicken liver in captivity. Although they feed on easily obtainable food like chicken liver, researchers have not yet been able to induce mating and reproduction in the laboratory.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The sea firefly is a bioluminescent ostracod crustacean called the 'sea firefly' in English.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It has a pair of compound eyes and a median eye, and swims by rowing its 2nd appendages. Seen from the side, it has a tiny body with visible compound eyes.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
Because it tends to move away from light, it swims away from light sources and responds most strongly to 460 nm blue light. In the laboratory, it was fed raw chicken liver, though researchers could not induce mating.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List: not evaluated (NE) — cross-checked with the Wikidata conservation-status entry
- • marinespecies.org — aphia.php
- • wikidata.org — Q1049727
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Vargula hilgendorfii.jpg
- • ir.lib.shimane-u.ac.jp — 55921
- • biorxiv.org — 708065v2.full
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.