Media Clip 26.8: Flashing Dinoflagellates

This remarkable video shows the flashes of light produced by bioluminescent dinoflagellates as they are ingested and expelled by feeding barnacles. These dinoflagellates produce light when they encounter a shear stress sufficient to deflect their cell membrane, which in turn initiates an action potential that triggers the light-producing chemical reaction.

Textbook Reference: Investigating Life, p. 570