At the end of 19th century was it commonly believed that a dead human body in the ocean can be phosphorescent?

I am examining a story by H G Wells published 1895. In the deep sea a man sees phosphorescent fish feeding by a shipwreck: 'I saw in the midst of this tumult, and by the light of the fish, a bit of splintered spar looming over me, and a dark hull tilting over, and some glowing phosphorescent forms that were shaken and writhed as the fish bit at them.' He then mentions 'horror' at the sight of 'those half eaten - things' with 'great holes in them', for he is about to be pushed right into them. I've heard that luminescent bacteria on a dead thing can make it glow. Is Wells saying that the glowing forms are dead people? At first it seems obvious they are but the phosphorescent bit throws me. Would a reader in Wells' day draw this conclusion?