Scientists spot deepest fish ever more than 8km below waves near Japan
- The snailfish were photographed swimming in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench at or ‘very close to’ the maximum depth that any fish can survive
- Snailfish live in the deepest part of the ocean, known as the hadal zone, where depths reach 6,000 to 11,000 metres and no light penetrates
Previously, the deepest recorded fish was spotted 8,178 metres down in the Mariana Trench, according to BBC News.
Scientists dropped an autonomous “lander” camera into the Izu-Ogasawara Trench near Japan and filmed the snailfish that they estimated to be at or “very close to” the maximum depth that any fish can survive, the BBC reported.
“If this record is broken, it would only be by minute increments, potentially by just a few metres,” Professor Alan Jamieson, a University of Western Australia deep-sea scientist, told the outlet.
The snailfish was a juvenile of the species Pseudoliparis, however, scientists did not capture a specimen to fully identify the species, according to the BBC. Instead, the researchers trapped several fish slightly higher up in the water at 8,022 metres, which were identified as Pseudoliparis belyaevi, and set the record for the deepest fish ever caught, according to the outlet.
The previous deepest recorded fish in the Mariana Trench was identified as a Mariana snailfish, which had been known to scientists since 2014, it was reported at the time. Snailfish live in the deepest part of the ocean, known as the hadal zone, where depths reach 6,000 to 11,000 metres and no light penetrates, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
Jamieson speculated that the fish were able to survive greater depths than those found in the Mariana Trench due to the Izu-Ogasawara’s slightly warmer waters, the BBC reported.