Scientists have found corals in the depths of the Red Sea that emit colored fluorescence, which is beneficial to the algae that coexist with them.
The behavior of these fluorescent corals in the Red Sea emits color fluorescence, which is precisely the process of benefiting symbiotic algae.
Photo by Jörg Wiedenmann
Written by Carrie Arnold
These colorful fluorescent corals, hidden deep in the World of the Red Sea, are quite different from the fluorescent corals that scientists have discovered.
"It's incredible to find fluorescent corals of all colors at such depths," says Jörg Wiedenmann, a marine biologist at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.
Wiedenmann's madness is not due to the fact that he forgot to take medicine, knowing that shallow corals in the same reef can only emit green fluorescence.
Usually, corals use fluorescent substances to emit light to act as sunscreen. People who swim or dive around corals are burned by the strong sunlight, and corals of course suffer similar damage, as are the symbiotic yellow algae.
"Although the sunlight in shallow water is bright and it is difficult to spot the fluorescence emitted by the naked eye from corals, if there is enough fluorescent material in corals, those rays are still obvious," Wiedenmann introduced, and published the report of the latest study in the Public Science Library on June 24.
Although scientists have studied quite a few fluorescent substances in corals, fluorescent corals of this depth are rare because the depth at which sunlight enters the ocean is limited.
So the question arises: Why do these Corals of the Red Sea emit colored fluorescence?
Rainbow Wonderland
In 2014, Wiedenmann and israel's Inter-University Institute of Marine Sciences explored corals near Eilat, Israel, focusing on the sea at depths of 30 to 100 meters.
For the visible light in the sunlight, almost all that can reach such a depth is blue light, and the rest is basically absorbed.
This leaf-shaped coral glows from green to red under the illumination of blue or ultraviolet light.
The team found that the corals in this water area emitted either green or orange fluorescence. After filming the footage at the scene, Wiedenmann took samples of 16 species of coral, which were subsequently studied in depth in laboratories in England.
Wiedenmann simulated the blue and ultraviolet light they received in the ocean, and as a result, the corals also emitted red and green fluorescence. What's even more interesting is that even in no light conditions, these corals can still synthesize fluorescent substances.
Does this further verify that the fluorescent substance is not intended for sun protection.
The researchers speculate that more fluorescent substances mean more fluorescence, which helps their symbiotic algae photosynthesize and release nutrients such as oxygen needed by polyps.
"In my opinion, the most interesting part of the study is the colorful fluorescence emitted by these closely related species of corals," commented Dimitri Deheyn, a marine biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
He thought that similar corals should emit similar fluorescence, but Wiedenmann found a "rainbow" instead.
In the eyes of scientists, the rainbow fluorescence of these corals is far more than a visual feast, and perhaps one day they can play a very important role in the field of human health.
Wiedenmann believes that the fluorescent material of these corals can be used to label specific cells, and physicians can more accurately observe cancer cells through microscopes.
"The richer the colors, the more exciting life is."
(Translator: Kiyozumi Shikami)