Scientists had proposed the smalleye pygmy shark that is only about 8.7 inches long has light-emitting organs called photophores. It is used for camouflage from their predators but this theory was never really tested until researcher Julien Claes conducted a research on the pygmy shark. This small shark lives in the Indian and Pacific Ocean and Claes and his colleagues had captured 20 pygmy sharks for study. They took skin samples from the sharks and tested different chemicals to see the reactions. They found that melatonin was the cause of the glow in the shark's organs. But when they used a hormone called prolactin on the shark's skin, the glow faded. Their research concluded that the sharks ability was evolved from ancient organisms that used these skin hormones to change their skin from light to dark as a form of camouflaging from predators.
http://news.discovery.com/animals/pygmy-shark-120427.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1
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