, we now know a few more secrets about how this marine sex party gets started—particularly that the party always starts on time, and that it hinges on a very specific, unique enzyme that gives the Bermuda fireworms their fiery glow.
Bermuda fireworms’ luminescence was first documented by Christopher Columbus and his crew in 1492, as “looking like the flame of a small candle alternately raised and lowered.” Scientists would identify the spectacle as a mating ritual in the 1930s, as occurring in the summer and autumn, at an eerily prompt 55 minutes after sunset, three nights after a“Imagine looking out over the water,” says Siddall. “It’s dark. The sun has set almost an hour prior.
, the epitoky phase includes the enlarging of male worms’ eyes , and modifications to organs that store and release sex cells.ocean