loobubs

Loobubs are a genus of small, bioluminescent marine invertebrates found in deep pelagic waters. Individuals have a translucent, bell-shaped body roughly one to three centimeters in diameter, with a frilled edge surrounding a central oral aperture. The outer body is gelatinous, and photogenic cells within the mantle produce glow that ranges from blue to green.

They inhabit midwater zones of tropical and temperate oceans, typically at depths between 200 and 800 meters. Loobubs are often observed in nutrient-rich frontal zones and during plankton blooms. They drift with currents and exhibit diel vertical migration, ascending toward shallower depths at night and retreating to greater depths by day.

Morphology and physiology are streamlined for a gelatinous life. Loobubs feed by filter feeding, using mucus nets secreted around the oral lobes to capture plankton and small particles. They possess a simple nerve net and lack a rigid skeleton, which allows flexible, slow movements in the open water.

Reproduction is sexual, with individuals releasing free-swimming gametes into the water column during breeding periods. Zygotes develop into planula-like larvae that eventually settle as juvenile loobubs, maturing into adults over several weeks to months.

Ecologically, loobubs contribute to deep-sea food webs as prey for larger pelagic predators and participate in carbon cycling through mucus production and digestion. Their bioluminescence and gelatinous form make them of interest to marine biologists studying photogenesis and gelatinous zooplankton ecology. They are not known to be commercially exploited, and their populations are primarily influenced by natural oceanographic variability and habitat disturbances.