A team of researchers investigating remote ocean channels off the shoreline of Japan set two new standards: the longest and deepest fish ever caught and filmed.
The University of Western Australia said in a news release on April 3 that the scientists were led by Alan Jamieson, a professor and founder of a deep sea research center.
Beginning in September, the two-month expedition investigated a number of deep sea trenches off the coast of Japan. According to the BBC, researchers used a camera mounted on a weighted frame to investigate the depth.
According to the university release, a bait would be added to the camera system's extended metal arm to attract fish.
Experts stated that the researchers were able to capture footage of a "unknown" species of "extremely small" snailfish swimming along after dropping the camera into the Izu-Ogasawara Trench. The fish was just over 5.1 miles (or 27,349 feet) below the surface.
The little fish swam into the left half of the camera's view, the record-breaking video shared by The College of Western Australia shows. The fish has a blue-purple appearance and a fluttering tail.
Already, the "most profound fish perception" came from 26,830 feet, or 5.08 miles, somewhere down in the Mariana Channel, found east of the Philippines, BBC announced.
The release stated that the researchers set traps 26,319 feet, or 4.98 miles, below the surface and caught two snailfish, breaking another record a few days later. Pseudoliparis belyaevi was identified as the name of both fish.
According to Britannica, snailfish are a diverse group of fish with long, gelatinous bodies that enable them to survive in the ocean's depths.
In the release, Jamieson stated, "We have spent more than 15 years researching these deep snailfish." They have a lot more to them than just the depth, but the deepest they can go is truly amazing.
According to a BBC report, snailfish experience water pressure "800 times the pressure at the ocean surface" approximately 5 miles below the surface. In the release, Jamieson stated, "The Japanese trenches were incredible places to explore." Even though they are at the bottom, they have such a lavish lifestyle.
"In other channels, for example, the Mariana Channel," he said, "we were finding (snailfish) at progressively more profound profundities simply crawling over that 8,000m (around 4.9 miles) mark in increasingly few numbers, however around Japan they are actually very bountiful."
0 Comments