– Marine worms from the Alciopidae family, including Torrea candida, Vanadis cf. formosa, and Naiades cantrainii, have unusually large eyes, with their eyes weighing 20 times more than their head.
– Researchers conducted detailed studies of the vision capabilities of these worms and found they have the ability to see small or distant objects and track their movement, indicating object vision. This type of advanced vision was previously only known in vertebrates, arthropods, and cephalopods.
– The worms’ vision is on par with rats or mice despite having a very small brain, showing they have “outstanding vision”.
– However, scientists do not know why worms that live at the bottom of the ocean in low-light conditions need such refined vision, as their transparent bodies allow them to hide but large eyes would make them more visible to predators.
– Past research found the worms’ eyes are most sensitive to ultraviolet light, suggesting they may communicate bioluminescence via UV light to remain invisible to most predators while interacting with their own species.
– Scientists hypothesize the worms use their advanced UV vision to have a “secret language” via UV bioluminescence related to mating or to spot bioluminescent prey, which could be the first witnessed example of animal UV bioluminescence. Further research is ongoing to test this hypothesis.
Source: ScienceAlert
