A remarkable discovery has been made deep in the ocean, where a previously unknown species of snailfish was found swimming astonishingly at a depth of 5 miles – or 8 kilometers – below the ocean’s surface.
During this amazing expedition, an unmanned submersible, known as a lander, used a baited trap to capture and document several individuals of the Pseudoliparis species. These unique snailfish were observed thriving at a depth of 8,336 meters within the Izu-Ogasawara trench, located southeast of Japan.
The expedition itself was a collaborative effort between the Minderoo-University of Western Australia’s Deep Sea Research Center and the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. The Team planned to explore three trenches in total, with the deepest trench reaching a staggering depth of over 9 kilometers, which is approximately 5.9 miles.
Discovered during this expedition, the snailfish showed remarkable adaptations that allow it to survive in an environment where the pressure is 800 times greater than it is at sea level. However, unlike most fish, it doesn’t have scales but rather, possesses a gelatinous outer mass believed to provide a much higher resistance to pressure. But looking at it from an evolutionary standpoint, some may point out that this could be considered a cheap adaptation.
Another very interesting feature is that these snailfish don’t have swim bladders, or the small pockets of gas that are typical of most types of fish. Maintaining gas within such extreme pressure zones is rather untenable.
As per Professor Alan Jamieson, the chief scientist of the expedition and also the founder of the Minderoo-UWA Deep Sea Research Centre told The Guardian that these snailfish are not actually deep sea fish.
Prof. Jamieson explained, “They’re the deepest fish in the world, but they’re not a deep sea fish. But they’ve speciated into every corner of the globe, and they’ve overtaken all the deep sea fish. These are 1,000 meters deeper than what you might think of as being a deep sea fish.”
Snailfish have indeed been observed thriving not only in shallow waters, but also in various pelagic zones, extending all the way to the depths of the trenches that Jamieson is currently investigating.
Indeed snailfish have been recorded living in shallow water as well, and most other pelagic zones down to the bottom of the trenches Jamieson is exploring.
“Fish all have osmolyte, a fluid in their cells that they use to counteract pressure—it’s the thing that makes that fishy smell. One of the only things, when you look at fish from a biochemical point of view, that is linear with depth is the concentration of that fluid,” Jamieson added.
Jamieson also points out that below 5 miles, the slight changes in temperature already prevent fish from increasing the concentration of osmolyte in their cells. This shows that fish just simply cannot handle the pressure of the water once the depths retreat to another 1,200 feet – 400 meters – below the surface.
See more about this fascinating discovery in the video below.
What are your thoughts? Please comment below and share this news!
True Activist / Report a typo
