Although many bioluminescent animals live in the deep light-free ocean, others live at or near the surface. One example is the small class of crustaceans known as ostracods.
Luminescent ostracods create two chemicals which they release into the water.
When these chemicals mix, one product of the reaction is a blue-green light. Also, stirring up water in where ostracods live can produce a green glow, often visible at night in the wake of ships or in the crashing surf. Raphael Dubois, who studied bioluminescence in clams in 1887, coined the names luciferin and luciferase for two components of bioluminescent systems. Luciferin is a species-specific pigment . Luciferase is an enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of luciferin.