Name this sea creature......

[RCSConstruction]

Was in mission bay tonight (saltwater), drifting, enjoying the night and I spotted some glowing objects in the water. They looked rather large at first but upon closer view they were small "wormy" type creatures. They looked like a skinny maggot. When I splashed the water they secreted some greenish glowing stuff.(which made them look bigger from a distance, they were also the same color as what they secreted)) Like florescent green safety lights. Before I knew it they were all around us. They seemed to be attracted to my parking light.
Looked like a bunch of fire flies in the water.
What are they? I did a Google search but nothing came up.
Thanks for any replies.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Name this sea creature......

Them lil buddies
They are such a hoot sometimes.

I'll let them know to stay away from people while fishing.

 

[JB]

Re: Name this sea creature......

Zooplankton

 

[RubberFrog]

Re: Name this sea creature......

lol @ spinner

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Name this sea creature......

algal bloom

 

[snapperbait]

Re: Name this sea creature......

Small squid?... They are attracted to light like many other sea critters.. That could explain the reason why, when you splahsed the water, they secreted "ink"..

Google "Bioluminescence".... think i spelled it right..

 

[RCSConstruction]

Re: Name this sea creature......

A light show of a different type can be seen at night from a kayak, says DuRant, in the form of bioluminescence, which occurs when certain ocean organisms produce light. A worm called Odontosyllis produces a green glow during mating rituals every two weeks between July and October in Mission Bay during the first and last quarters of the moon, says Michael Latz of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla..




Guess it was a worm... The bioluminesence was the key word to finding out what it was.
Thanks all. It was quite a show last night. Made me not want to ever go in the water....hahaha

 

[cwlandefeld]

Re: Name this sea creature......

Welcome to the 'Twilight Zone'!