Researchers have determined why a unique and typically reclusive eel glows neon green from time to time.
A 2011 research trip to the Caribbean ended up being a rather fortuitous one for scientist David Gruber.
Not only did he capture a brilliant photo of an array of biofluorescent corals, he got a shot of a little neon green eel that had wandered into the frame.
That creature ended up being the first wild, green-glowing fish ever recorded.
In the years since, Gruber has been trying to get to the bottom of why and how the typically reclusive sea dweller lights up like it does, and he and his team recently published a paper about their
