Two snailfish, of thePseudoliparis belyaevispecies, were caught in traps set 8,022 metres underwater in the Japan Trench, south of Japan, during a two-month voyage by a team from the University of Western Australia (UWA) and the Tokyo University of Marine Science.
Scientists have also recorded a juvenile specimen of an unknown species of snail fish swimming 8,336 meters deep in the Izu-Ogasawara trench off southern Japan. The footage was possible thanks to remote cameras, as part of a ten-year study on the deepest fish population on the planet. Prof. Alan Jamieson, the expedition's chief scientist, says it is vital to conduct more deep-sea research to understand human impact on the ocean.
Much remains to be learned from exploring the mysteries of the deep:more than eighty percent of our ocean is unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored. New discoveries are expected from future expeditions.
