A fish has been discovered more than 8 km underwater by scientists led by a West Australian, possibly making it the “deepest” fish ever found.
Last September, a team of researchers from the University of Western Australia and the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology sailed offshore for a two-month expedition into the deep ocean trenches of the northern ocean. Peaceful. The results of this underwater adventure have just been unveiled this week.
These researchers explored the Japan, Izu-Ogasawara and Ryukyu trenches, which go several thousand meters deep, as part of a ten-year study of deep-sea fish populations.
And it is in the south of Japan, in the Izu-Ogasawara pit which reaches 9000 meters deep, that the team filmed the depth record of a fish. An unknown species of slugfish has been spotted at a depth of 8336 meters! ????
“The Japanese pits were incredible to explore. They are so rich in life, even deep down,” marveled Professor Alan Jamieson, founder of the Minderoo-UWA Deep Sea Research Center and chief scientist of the expedition.
“We’ve spent over 15 years studying these deep-sea slugfish. There’s so much more to discover about them than just their depth, but the maximum depth they can survive is truly staggering.”
A few days later, the team managed to capture two fish about 8,000 meters deep in the Japan Trench. According to the UWA, it seems that these slugfish are the first fish ever collected at depths greater than 8000 meters.
The fish seen in the Izu-Ogasawara Trough was on its own and was a “very small juvenile”, according to the UWA, when usually “large and rather vibrant” populations thrive in the ocean.
“Slugfish tend to be the opposite of other deep-sea fish, where juveniles live at the deeper end of their depth range,” the university clarified.