London: A group of scientists have made an astounding discovery in the extreme depths of the Pacific Ocean when they uncovered three new species of fish.
An exploration deep into the Atacama Trench along the west coast of South America, one of the deepest places on earth, captured rare footage of three species of snailfish that was never seen before, according to Newcastle University.
A team of 40 scientists from 17 different nations teamed up for the exploration that discovered the new species. They are temporarily being called “the pink, the blue and the purple Atacama Snailfish.” The footage captured of the animals shows them nibbling on food and interacting in their bizarre deep-sea world.
The animals were discovered around 24,600 feet (roughly four and a half miles) below the surface in the Atacama Trench, which is more than 3,700 miles long and is around 26,000 feet deep at its lowest point.
According to the statement, these snailfish break the mold of what deep-sea fish typically look like. Instead of giant, protruding teeth or a terrifying body type, these fish are small, ghostly-colored, translucent, and have no scales.
Despite their atypical body types, it seems like they are perfectly adapted to living in depth’s the extreme pressure and are at the top of the food chain, according to scientists.
“As the footage clearly shows, there are lots of invertebrate preys down there and the snailfish are the top predator, they seem to be quite active and look very well-fed,” Dr. Thomas Linley, from Newcastle University, said in a statement.
“Their gelatinous structure means they are perfectly adapted to living at extreme pressure and in fact, the hardest structures in their bodies are the bones in their inner ear which give them balance and their teeth,” Dr. Linley said. “Without the extreme pressure and cold to support their bodies, they are extremely fragile and melt rapidly when brought to the surface.”