sea sparkles

Noun

sea sparkle (plural sea sparkles)

1. The bioluminescent dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans (syn. Noctiluca miliaris), that causes some seafire.
   • Their quantity remained also high in summer, when the role of the sea sparkle N. scintillans and of meroplankton, especially B. improvisus, was increasing.2017, A. K. Vinogradov, Yu. I. Bogatova, I. A. Synegub, Ecology of Marine Ports of the Black and Azov Sea Basin, page 157
2. The glow created by these dinoflagellates; seafire.
   • The nocturnal fish are agile and quick to take flight, wary of reef sharks and moray eels scouring the coral heads, but as they swim and disturb the water, the darkness is sometimes interrupted by the bioluminescent flashes of 'sea sparkle', product of the microscopic dinoflagellate Noctiluca...2006, Michael Bright, Wild Caribbean, page 190