A group of researchers from the University of Nagoya (Japan) has discovered, studied and described three new species of marine worms of the genus Polycirrus with bioluminescent capacity. Despite the fact that they are small worms that inhabit shallow waters, the researchers have observed that they have shapes and light reminiscent of various figures of mythical animals typical of Japanese folklore, so they have decided to award two of these new Species names Polycirrus onibi (onibi is a Japanese yokai shaped like a ghost or animal) and P. aoandone (in this case, an aondanon is a dangerous spirit).
The third of the new species will be named P. ikeguchii in honor of Shinichiro Ikeguchi, former director of the Notojima Aquarium. The results of the discovery and research have been published in the Royal Society Open Science journal.
The scientific community estimates that there are about 7,000 species of luminescent Polycirrus worms, but so far they have only been able to study a small number of them. In some cases, the difficulty is found even in the classification of the species and the assignment to each one of the specimens located in the natural environment.
Naoto Jimi, a professor at the Nagoya University Graduate School of Science, and his research group with members from AIST, Olympus Corporation, and Japan Underwater Films Corporation, have spent several months studying this genus of small worms and have discovered the three new species, all emitting blue-violet light.
The main author of the study has explained that when they discovered these new species they were surprised and felt the duty to document and classify them. "Our previous research on the luminescence of the genus Polycirrus had established it as a valuable subject for bioluminescence studies," added this co-author.
"We used Japanese yokai names, such as onibi and aoandon, for the new species because the misty violet-blue bioluminescence emitted by the Polycirrus species is strikingly similar to descriptions of these creatures found in folklore," Jimi said.
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. "The discovery that the three new species are luminescent has allowed us to link taxonomic and ecological findings and establish research that others can easily apply to the study of luminescent organisms," said Naoto Jimi.
"Understanding these luminescence mechanisms contributes to medical and life science research. Bioluminescence is an interesting and unusual treasure trove of chemistry. We intend to use our findings to deepen our understanding of the molecular nature of this phenomenon and apply this knowledge to the development of new life science technologies".
