Cryptozoology tale? It sounds fishy...
Garrison Hilliard
By Rebecca Morelle
Science reporter, BBC News
The deepest living fish ever spotted in the southern hemisphere have been
caught
on camera.
The bizarre-looking pink creatures were photographed at a depth of 7,560m
(24,800ft), swimming in the Kermadec Trench off the coast of New Zealand.
An international team has been studying this area using a submersible,
built to
withstand immense pressures.
Last year, the same team recorded another fish at 7,700m (25,300ft) - the
deepest ever filmed.
These were found in the Japan Trench, which is in the Pacific, north of
the
equator.
Both expeditions form part of the Hadeep project, which aims to expand our
knowledge of life in the oceanic trenches, the deepest parts of the ocean
floor.
Quite a catch
The deep-sea fish seen near New Zealand look remarkably similar to last
year's
find: they are pale pink in colour, with bulbous bodies and long tails.
But they
are in fact a different species.
The Kermadec Trench fish are a species known as Notoliparis kermadecensis
,
while the Japan Trench creatures are Pseudoliparis amblystomopsis .
Professor Monty Priede, director of the University of Aberdeen's Oceanlab,
which
leads the Hadeep project, said: "The intriguing thing is that each of the
trenches seems to have been colonised by these fish, despite being in
different
hemispheres.
"Presumably [they evolved] from some shallower, similar ancestor."
He added: "These species are never found outside the trenches - they are
very
isolated. You can think of the trenches a bit like islands."
The fish were photographed using a camera-laden, deep-sea submersible,
which was
connected to a ship and controlled from its surface.
The probe was loaded with rotting fish, designed to lure deep-sea
creatures,
allowing them to be caught on camera and studied.
But, unlike in 2008, this year the team was unable to capture footage of
the
fish. The primary submersible carrying the video camera equipment was lost
during an earlier descent.
Alan Jamieson from Oceanlab, who is leading this project, said he was
devastated
at the loss of the #150,000 piece of equipment.
He told the Natural Environment Research Council's (Nerc) Planet Earth
website
that it was "the sum of nearly six years worth of planning and designing,
and
two-and-half years of operations" and that is was "now officially lost at
sea".
Deep questions
The subject of which fish are the deepest is a contentious one.
In 1960, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh descended to 10,910m (35,790ft) in
the
Marianas Trench, which is the deepest place in the oceans.
DEEP SEA DIVISIONS
Bathyal zone: 1,000-3,000m (3,000-10,000ft)
Abyssal: 3,000-6,000m (10,000-20,000ft)
Hadal: 6,000m-11,000m (20,000-36,000ft)
In his book Seven Miles Down, Piccard wrote that he spotted a type of
flatfish.
However, at a depth of 10,000m (33,000ft), experts say the pressure would
have
forced the windows to start caving in, making it difficult to see out.
So the official record for the deepest fish is held by Abyssobrotula
galatheae ,
which was dredged from the bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench at a depth of
more
than 8,370m (27,460ft) in 1970.
However, it was dead by the time it reached the surface.
The Oceanlab team's Japan Trench find holds the record for the deepest
living
fish.
Professor Priede said he expected that some fish would eventually be
spotted at
even greater depths.
The Hadeep project is funded by the Nippon Foundation and Nerc.
This research cruise involved Oceanlab, the University of Tokyo's Oceans
Research Institute and New Zealand's National Institute of Water and
Atmospheric
Research (Niwa).
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/8353329.stm
Published: 2009/11/12 11:07:52 GMT
) BBC MMIX
(Film and photos at site)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8353329.stm