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An exploration of one of the deepest places on the planet has allowed to capture rare images of what are thought to be three new elusive Snailfish species.
With a team of 40 scientists from 17 different countries, including Dr. Alan Jamieson and Dr. Thomas Linley of the University of Newcastle, UK, the Atacama trench expedition has revealed a wealth of information about life.
Among the new discoveries, the team expects to be three new species of molluscs.
Baptized temporarily "pink, blue and purple snail fish", the images show that fish feed and interact in their secret world at 7,500 meters below the surface.
These fish are part of the family of liparids and do not conform to the preconceived stereotypical image of what a deep water fish should look like.
Instead of giant teeth and a threatening frame, the fish that roam the deepest parts of the ocean are small, translucent, devoid of scales – and very adept at living where few other organisms can. make. The snail fish will be presented at the 2018 Challenger Conference, which will begin at Newcastle University today and run until Friday.
Dr. Thomas Linley, of Newcastle University, said:
"Snailfish (fish of the family Liparidae) have something that allows them to adapt to life at depth.Beyond the reach of other fish, they are free of competitors and predators.
"As the pictures clearly show, there are a lot of invertebrate prey there and snailheads are the main predators, they seem to be very active and look very well fed.
"Their gelatinous structure allows them to live perfectly under extreme pressure and the hardest structures of their body are the bones of their inner ear, which gives them balance and teeth without the extreme pressure and cold to support their bodies, they are extremely fragile and melt quickly when they are brought to the surface. "
Surprisingly, the team managed to catch one of the new snail species that followed its amphipod prey in one of the traps. The single specimen was in very good condition and, having been carefully preserved, it is currently being described by the Newcastle team with the help of colleagues from the United States and the Natural History Museum of London .
Pioneering technology for the exploration of the ultra-deep
The Hadal Trenches are one of the last great frontiers of marine science and the deepest places on the planet.
Mainly located around the Pacific Rim in areas where tectonic plates collide and dive, the seabed reaches depths close to 11,000 meters in some areas.
The trench of Atacama, a trench nearly 6000 km long and over 8000 m deep, runs along the west coast of South America.
Scientists and engineers at Newcastle University have been pioneers in technology for exploring these ultra-deep environments over the past five years and to date have completed nearly 250 deployments of their new 'landing gear' systems. ".
The Newcastle team evaluated the animals found in the trench with two full-depth ocean landing gear (11,000m) equipped with HD cameras and traps.
Designed and developed at the University of Newcastle, the LG is dropped to the sea and falls free on the ocean floor where it performs various monitoring and sampling tasks.
The trap can take four hours to fall to the bottom and after 12 to 24 hours over, the researchers send an acoustic signal to the trap, which releases weight and the LG goes back to the surface with the aid of flotation .
This allows the team to capture specimens of fish and take video footage of life at the bottom of the ocean.
During this latest expedition to the Atacama Trench in the southeastern Pacific, off Peru and Chile, the team deployed 27 times its baited camera system of 2537 at the deepest point , Richard's Deep, at just over 8000 meters.
More than 100 hours of video and 11,468 photographs were taken on the seabed.
In addition to the snail fish, the team has also filmed surprisingly rare sequences of long-legged isopods, called Munnopsids, which are roughly the size of an adult hand.
These crustaceans have small bodies, extraordinarily long legs and swim back and forth, propelling themselves with paddles on their ventral side – their "belly" – before straightening out on the seabed and extending their long walking legs like a spider.
"We do not know what species of ammunopsides are these species, but it's amazing to have them captured in their natural habitat, especially the fact that they're going from swimming to walking," says Dr. Linley.
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