Bomb-tastic new worms.

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Newly discovered deep-sea worms launch luminous green bombs that may distract a predator, a study in the Aug. 21 Science reports. Remotely operated vehicles found seven new species of worms (one shown) at depths exceeding 1,850 meters off the coasts of California, Oregon and the Philippines. Cameras caught the worms, some several inches long, swimming above the ocean floor, propelled by fans of bristles. Cameras also caught a glimpse of small bulbous packets near some of the species' heads (arrow). After bringing worms back to the lab, the researchers found that they release these packets when prodded and the spheres burst into bright green light. This bioluminescent trick earned the worms the nickname "green bombers," says study coauthor Karen Osborn of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. The seven species make up a new genus, named Swima. Five species release the packets, probably as a defense mechanism, Osborn says.