Every year around April and early May, the waters of Toyama Bay, a fishing port in central Japan, glow an otherworldly blue. Though the dazzling phosphorescent display resembles the celestial constellations of the night sky, its source comes from the depths of the oceans. Watasenia scintillans, also known as firefly squid, or hotaru ika in Japanese, emit a mesmerizing light courtesy of a network of thousands of photophores situated all over their 3-inch bodies. While most sea creatures, like the Hawaiian bobtail squid, derive their radiance from symbiotic bacteria colonies,…
