Abstract
Seawater samples from a variety of locations contained viable luminous bacteria, but luminescence was not detectable although the system used to measure light was sensitive enough to measure light from a single, fully induced luminous bacterial cell. When the symbiotically luminous fishCleidopus gloriamaris was placed in a sterile aquarium, plate counts of water samples showed an increase in luminous colony-forming units. Luminescence also increased, decreasing when the fish was removed. Light measurements of water samples from a sterile aquarium containingPhotoblepharon palpebratus, another symbiotically luminous fish, whose bacterial symbionts have not been cultured, showed a similar pattern of increasing light which rapidly decreased upon removal of the fish. These experiments suggest that symbiotically luminous fishes release brightly luminous bacteria from light organs into their environment and may be a source of planktonic luminous bacteria. Although planktonic luminous bacteria are generally not bright when found in seawater, water samples from environments with populations of symbiotically luminous fish may show detectable levels of light.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Booth C, Nealson KH (1975) Bacterial bioluminescence in the open ocean. Biophys J 15:53
Harvey EN (1952) Bioluminescence. Academic Press, New York
Hastings JW, Mitchell G (1971) Endosymbiotic bioluminescent bacteria from the light organ of pony fish. Biol Bull 141:261–268
Kessel M (1977) The ultrastructure of the relationship between the luminous organ of the teleost fishPhotoblepharon palpebratus and its symbiotic bacteria. Cytobiol 15:145–158
McCosker JE (1977) Flashlight fishes. Scientific American 236:106–114
Nealson KH (1978) Identification and manipulation of luminous bacteria. Methods in Enzymol 57:153–166
Nealson KH, Hastings JW (1979) Bacterial bioluminescence: its control and ecological significance. Microbiol Rev 43:496–518
O'Brien CH, Sizemore RK (1979) Distribution of the luminous bacteriumBeneckea harveyi in a semitropical estuarine environment. Appl Environ Microbiol 38:928–933
Ruby EG, Greenberg EP, Hastings JW (1980) Planktonic marine luminous bacteria: species distribution in the water column. Appl Environ Microbiol 39:302–306
Ruby EG, Morin JG (1979) Luminous enteric bacteria of marine fishes: a study of their distribution, densities, and dispersion. Appl Environ Microbiol 38:406–411
Ruby EG, Nealson KH (1976) Symbiotic association ofPhotobacterium fischeri with the marine luminous fishMonocentris japonica: a model of symbiosis based on bacterial studies. Biol Bull 151:574–586
Ruby EG, Nealson KH (1978) Seasonal changes in the species composition of luminous bacteria in nearshore seawater. Limnol Oceanogr 23:530–533
Shilo M, Yetinson T (1979) Physiological characteristics underlying the distribution patterns of luminous bacteria in the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Elat. Appl Environ Microbiol 38:577–584
Singleton RJ, Skerman TM (1973) A taxonomic study by computer analysis of marine bacteria from New Zealand waters. J R Soc NZ 3:129–140
Tebo BM, Linthicum DS, Nealson KH (1979) Luminous bacteria and light-emitting fish: ultrastructure of the symbiosis. Biosystems 11:269–280
Yetinson T, Shilo M (1979) Seasonal and geographic distribution of luminous bacteria in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Elat. Appl Environ Microbiol 37:1230–1238
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nealson, K.H., Haygood, M.G., Tebo, B.M. et al. Contribution by symbiotically luminous fishes to the occurrence and bioluminescence of luminous bacteria in seawater. Microb Ecol 10, 69–77 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02011596
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02011596