Page 56 - Atlas of Creation Volume 4
P. 56
THE LUMINOUS STRATEGY OF THE HATCHETFISH
One bioluminescent marvel living at depths of its abdomen. Two different chemical substances
1,000 meters (3,300 feet) is the hatchetfish. Some are combined together in these organs to initiate a
ten centimeters (four inches) long, this fish has lar- chemical reaction, the result being biological light,
ge eyes, located as to be looking upward becau- or bioluminescence.
se fish living at these depths tend to hunt prey pas- The organs in the fish’s abdomen imitate light
sing above them. filtering down from the surface and produce light
At the same time, they themselves have to be of exactly the same color. The hatchetfish thus pre-
invisible. Their bodies have been created so as to vents its shadow being seen from below. 18
make this possible. Their bodies are flat and silver This astonishing defense system is obviously
in color, reflecting the color of the water like a mir- the product of a superior intelligence. The hatchet-
ror, which camouflages them in the darkness. So- fish cannot be aware of how it is visible from be-
me fish that look downward can still identify them, neath. Neither can it know how light is manufac-
however, because by means of their large eyes, tured. It is impossible for such a sensitive system to
fish at these depths are able to distinguish their have appeared in the animal’s body by chance.
prey with light filtering down from the surface. These marvelous characteristics of the hatchet-
But the hatchetfish possesses an amazingly fish are not the result of blind chance, as evolutio-
deceptive system against this danger from two nists maintain, but one of the countless examples
eyes looking down from above. in the universe showing they were created by Om-
It has very special organs known as photop- niscient and Almighty Allah.
hores that manufacture light on the lower part of
The 37 to 23-million-year-old hatchetfish
on the left clearly shows that living things
did not emerge as the result of an evolu-
tionary process by going through various
stages. The hatchet fish produces light in
the same way today as it did millions of
years in the past.
54 Atlas of Creation Vol. 4
