Nick Dorsey, age 8, of Hutchinson, Kan., for his question:

WHAT IS A LANTERN FISH?

A lantern fish has glands or organs that give off light. Some lantern fish live in deep waters of the sea while others come to the surface at night.

The organs that give off light look like little pearls on the fish. The organs are on the sides of the head and the body.

The deep sea anglers also have luminous or light giving glands.

They are not close relatives of the lantern fish. An angler has a strange appearance, with an enormous head and a huge mouth armed with long sharp teeth. The luminous gland is at the tip of a stalk that rises from the end of the snout.

The lantern fish and others like it have no commercial value. Zoologists, however, find them of scientific interest.