The kitefin shark (Dalatias licha) is the world’s largest known bioluminescent vertebrate. It produces blue-green light in specialized organs in its skin, which glow most densely along its underside but also occur across its body and fins. Researchers have measured how the shark emits light; why it does so remains an open question, with a newer study proposing that the glow may help it detect or capture prey.
Which shark glows in the dark?
The kitefin shark is a deep-water, near-bottom shark reported to reach about 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) in length. The 2021 study that first documented its luminescence called it “the largest known luminous vertebrate.” That is a more precise distinction than “largest glowing animal”: some animals, including whale sharks, have spots that appear to glow under certain light because of biofluorescence, not because they make their own light.
Bioluminescence is light produced by an organism. Biofluorescence is different: an organism absorbs light and re-emits it. The visible spots described in whale sharks are an example of the latter, not evidence that whale sharks bioluminesce. The 2021 study in Frontiers in Marine Science documented light production in kitefin sharks collected off New Zealand.
How does the kitefin shark make light?
Light-producing organs in the skin
The shark’s light comes from photophores, specialized organs embedded in its skin. Researchers found photophores across the body, with the greatest density on the underside. The 2021 paper describes each as a single light-producing cell within a cup-shaped pigmented cell, topped by lens cells.
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The light is not confined to the belly. The 2021 study reported glow on the ventral surface and dorsal fins, as well as fainter light on other body regions. In experimental tissue, melatonin triggered light production, while α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) inhibited it. Those results show hormonal effects under the study conditions; they do not establish the shark’s complete natural control system.
What researchers measured
A 2026 study by Julien M. Claes, Darren W. Stevens, and Jérôme Mallefet examined live kitefin shark luminescence. It measured a peak wavelength of 491 nm in light emitted from the underside and described a broad angular emission pattern. The authors also found that dorsal-fin light was weaker than ventral emission, but brighter than modeled ambient upwelling radiance at relevant viewing angles. These measurements describe the light’s properties; they do not by themselves prove what the shark uses it for.
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Why does the kitefin shark glow?
Counterillumination is physically plausible
One proposed explanation is counterillumination: an animal emits light from below to reduce the visibility of its silhouette against light filtering down from above. The 2021 researchers suggested this camouflage-like function. In 2026, Claes and colleagues found that the underside’s measured intensity and spectrum were consistent with physical expectations for counterillumination.
The newer study proposes a role in feeding
The 2026 authors also considered the shark’s ecology. Kitefins are large demersal predators—animals that live and feed on or near the seabed—and the study’s framing records no natural predators. The authors therefore suggest the light may primarily help the shark detect or capture prey rather than hide from predators. They summarize their conclusion cautiously: “This combination supports the interpretation that counterillumination in this species primarily contributes to prey detection and capture rather than predator-avoidance camouflage.”
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This is an interpretation based on light measurements and ecological context, not a direct observation of a wild kitefin catching prey with its glow. The evidence establishes that the shark emits light and that its ventral emission is compatible with counterillumination; it has not settled the behavior’s purpose.
Where does the kitefin shark live?
NatureScot reports the species from 37 to 1,800 m deep, most commonly below 200 m and generally on or near the seabed. The 2021 Frontiers paper gives a reported range of 50 to 1,800 m in its introduction. These figures come from different sources and contexts, so they should be read as reported ranges rather than a single precise boundary. The luminous specimens studied in 2021 were collected during a January 2020 survey on the Chatham Rise off eastern New Zealand; they do not represent every population.
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NatureScot summarizes the kitefin’s varied diet as including bony and cartilaginous fishes, crustaceans, and cephalopods. Its deep-water habitat and feeding ecology provide context for hypotheses about the glow, but do not independently confirm a particular function.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is known about its conservation context?
NatureScot describes slow growth and late maturity as traits that can make deep-water sharks vulnerable to fishing. In its fisheries context, the report says ICES advised zero catches for 2024–2027. This is a dated, regional management statement as summarized by NatureScot, not a worldwide fishing ban.
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How scientists’ understanding has changed
The 2021 paper by Jérôme Mallefet, Darren W. Stevens, and Laurent Duchatelet was the first to document luminescence in the kitefin shark. Based on specimens from the Chatham Rise, the authors examined photophore structure and density and tested hormonal effects in tissue. They proposed counterillumination as one possible role and noted that the ecological function needed further study.
The August 2026 paper by Claes, Stevens, and Mallefet added measurements from live sharks and comparisons with predicted ambient light. Its results support the physical possibility of counterillumination, while its authors give greater weight to a possible role in prey detection and capture. That shift is a refinement of the hypothesis, not proof that the shark glows to hunt.
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