Deepest fish ever recorded in the Mariana Trench An international team aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor set a new record for the deepest fish ever recorded at 8143m in the Mariana Trench. The fish is a completely unknown variety of snailfish with a translucent body, broad wing-like fins and an eel-like tail. This creature, which was filmed several times at a depth of 8,143 meters, or 26,715 feet, has a different body shape from known species of snailfish, so it might be something else entirely. But one thing is for certain, the scientists told the BBC — its definitely not a species weve seen before. We think it is a snailfish, but its so weird-looking; its up in the air in terms of what it is, Alan Jamieson of the University of Aberdeen told the BBC. It is unbelievably fragile, and when it swims, it looks like it has wet tissue paper floating behind it. And it has a weird snout — it looks like a cartoon dog snout. So how do these ghostly fish manage to live at these crushing depths? Deep-sea fish have higher levels of a chemical called trimethylamine oxide (TMAO). TMAO helps proteins maintain their shape as pressure mounts. Fish shouldnt be able hold enough TMAO in their cells to live below 8,200 meters, according to recent research by Jamieson — so these new fish may very well be permanent record-holders. https://youtube/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cBxsm5T2yN8
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 10:42:42 +0000
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