Anglerfish Lure: Bioluminescent Signal Range

The anglerfish's glowing esca is a working optical instrument, not just a curiosity: symbiotic bacteria inside it switch on collectively once their density crosses a quorum-sensing threshold, and the light they produce then fades through seawater exactly as the Beer-Lambert law predicts. This simulation renders that whole chain in 3D — a colony-density slider drives a Hill-function quorum switch that sets the esca's true luminous intensity I₀, a turbidity slider sets the water's attenuation coefficient k, and the two together define a real detection radius R where a prey eye's contrast threshold is finally crossed. Toggle the lure between a steady glow and the fish's own muscular flashing pattern — mimicking a bioluminescent copepod's flicker — and watch prey particles swim in only once they cross into the lit volume during an "on" pulse, with live readouts for I₀, R, and how many prey have actually been drawn in.