A new species of luminous creatures have been discovered in the Red Sea and they’re pretty incredible.

They were found by Russian researchers investigating coral reefs just off the Farasan Islands.

The ‘fluorescent lanterns’, as they have been dubbed, revealed themselves when biologists placed them under UV-light.

Attaching on to miniature shells of a sea snail, the creatures garland the animal with luminous green lights.

Vyacheslav Ivanenko, one of the lead authors of the research, said: ‘Sea hydroids, unlike hydrae, are often found in colonies and canbranch off tiny jellyfish

‘The unusual green glow of these hydrozoas (presumably, a new species of the genus Cytaeis, whose body length reaches 1.5 mm) was revealed in the peristomal area of the body.’

At the moment, the role of the glow has not been investigated at all but zoologists suggest that the glow around the mouth of polyps may attract prey.

‘Fluorescent flashlights’ may be visible to other invertebrates in the moonlight, and at sunset and sunrise.

Ivanenko added: ‘The fluorescence can be useful for quick identification of hardly recognizable species and for the studies of ecological peculiarities and distribution of hydroids and their hosts molluscs’. Via metro.co.uk