In Japanese folklore, onibi ("demon fire") describes a will-o'-the-wisp type of yokai, shaped like a small, floating ball of light, that is believed to lead travelers in mountains and forests astray, according to the researchers. Two of the three species were named Polycirrus onibi and Polycirrus aoandon as a reference to their bluish-violet luminescence, the team said. Newly discovered sea worms named after demon, ghostĪfter the discovery of the worms from different parts of Japan, the researchers opted to give them Japanese names. The findings were published on March 29 in the journal Royal Society Open Science. "However, we later discovered what we thought was a single species of Polycirrus was actually three different species." "Our previous research on the luminescence of the genus Polycirrus had established it as a valuable subject for bioluminescence studies," Jimi said in a statement. Jimi said they were amazed by the discovery and felt a sense of duty to document and classify them. Study authors Naoto Jimi and Manabu Bessho-Uehara discovered that all three of these new species emit a blue-violet light in their underwater environments. Bioluminescence is a treasure trove of interesting and unusual chemistry." - Study author Naoto Jimi "Understanding these luminescence mechanisms contributes to medical and life science research. The research team, led by two scientists from Nagoya University's Graduate School of Science, said science remains limited to only certain species because some are quite difficult to classify. There are more than 7,000 species of bioluminescent organisms in the world, but scientists have only studied a small fraction.
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