Bioluminescent fish anatomy. Computer illustration showing photophores below the eye of a bioluminescent fish (lightfish). A photophore is a light-emitting organ found on various marine animals, including fish and cephalopods. The light can be produced from compounds produced from the digestion of prey, from specialised light-emitting mitochondrial cells (photocytes), or associated with symbiotic bacteria that live within the photophore.