Secrets of 'disco clam' revealed
Published: 10:20 pm, Wednesday, 25 June 2014
A sea floor diva known as the 'disco clam' has revealed the secrets of its dazzling moves.
The mollusc earned the name from its vivid rhythmic display of flashing mauve light, and experts first thought the light show was another example of bioluminescence.
But new research shows it is groovier than that: the clam uses microscopic glass beads to scatter reflected light from along the lips of its two shells.
US scientists from the University of California at Berkeley believe the flashing serves as a signal, but are still investigating why it evolved.
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