In the deep, dim ocean, a world of eat-or-be-eaten, lighting up may seem like a counterintuitive survival strategy.

Nevertheless, it helps many animals hide from predators that might strike from below – a shine that conceals the shadow they cast against the faint light filtering down from above.

Now, however, scientists have found evidence that one of the most stunning bioluminescent animals in the ocean may have been using its light in another way all along.