World's deepest fish found
20.12.2014 10:09
A new record has been set for the deepest fish ever seen in the world, at an incredible depth of 26,722 feet (8,145 metres).
The snailfish was found at the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, and breaks the previous record by almost 1,640 feet (500 metres).
The finding was part of an international expedition that also found many other new species at the extreme depths.
The bizarre creature found is thought to be a snailfish, a 'ghostly' looking creature that has a tad-pole like body
They have large heads, small eyes and no scales, and are normally slightly larger than a human hand in length.
Dr Alan Jamieson, from Aberdeen University said: 'This really deep fish did not look like anything we had seen before, nor does it look like anything we know of.
'It is unbelievably fragile, with large wing-like fins and a head resembling a cartoon dog'.
Scientists from Aberdeen University and Hawaii University captured footage of fish in more than 105 hours of video taken at the Mariana Trench.
This was done with an Aberdeen-built machine used to venture into deep waters, known as the Hadal Lander.
It is the UK's deepest diving vehicle and is equipped with a high definition underwater camera.
The 30-day voyage was run by Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel, Falkor.
Scientists carried out 92 dives across the entire depth range of the trench, which lies in the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines and south of Japan, from 16,400 to 34,600ft (5,000 to 10,545m).
They were also surprised to have discovered a rare 'supergiant' amphipod, a shrimp-like crustacean that can be up to 11 inches (28cm) long and was originally discovered in New Zealand in 2012.
This is seen swimming with the snailfish in some of the footage.
(dailymail.co.uk)
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