Camera traps have captured footage of several species of fish that have adapted to survive at a record depth of over 6,100 meters below the ocean surface off the coast of Australia.
Recently, biologists from the Minderoo Deep Sea Research Center at the University of Western Australia reported that they recorded footage of several fish species living at a record depth of 6,177 meters below sea level in the Diamantina Fracture Zone in the southeastern Indian Ocean. This marks the highest recorded depth for live fish footage captured off the coast of Australia.
According to the biologists, they used camera traps mounted on an exploration vessel to capture images of the creatures. The footage showed that some Ophidiidae fish were attracted to bait.
These fish belong to the cusk eel family, which includes many species of deep-sea fish. Among them, one species, known to inhabit depths of approximately 8,370 meters, was previously recorded in the Puerto Rico Trench. This species typically has a slender body with a small head and smooth scales.
Creatures living at depths exceeding 6,100 meters below the ocean surface off the coast of Australia have recently been captured by camera traps (Image taken from the clip).
Subsequently, two smaller species of light blue fish appeared on the footage. They may be new, undescribed species within the blind fish group. Additionally, the camera traps also encountered several other beautifully assessed deep-sea creatures.
Creatures resembling shrimp were also attracted to the camera traps (Image taken from the clip).
According to the Guinness World Records, the deepest depth at which a live fish has ever been caught is 7,966 meters in the Mariana Trench in 2014. This trench is the deepest oceanic trench in the world, located in the western Pacific Ocean.
The snailfish species lives at a record depth of nearly 8,000 meters in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean (Image: News).
This species is the snailfish known as Pseudoliparis swirei. They have a rather unusual appearance, with a transparent body that allows internal organs to be visible from the outside, measuring nearly 30 cm in length and weighing about 160 grams.
Living at this record depth, the snailfish has evolved to adapt to the harsh environment. They lack scales, have no large teeth, and do not bioluminesce. Their bodies appear so soft that they have been compared to a piece of silk paper being pulled underwater.
In a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald, the research team revealed that they used a $30 Australian trap attached to a $100,000 Australian research device to capture the two aforementioned specimens of snailfish. This is considered a new species in the scientific community.
