A pink fish full of potholes with beard -shaped appendages that floats on the muddy background of Monterey Canyon, at a depth of more than 10,700 feet (3,300 meters) of the Coast of California.
This strange little snail fish, captured in camera by a group led by researchers from the Research Institute of the Monterey Bay Aquarium (Mbari), turned out to be one of the three recently identified Snailfish species that live in perpetual darkness and the crushing pressures of the ocean depths.
“In addition to being an important part of the ecosystem, snail fish give us the opportunity to study evolution in the deep ocean within a family”, team leader Mackenzie GerringerAssociate Professor of Biology at New York State University in Geneseo, said Live Science.
“When comparing surface life fish fish with their deep life relatives, we can better understand what adaptations are required for life in the deep sea,” Geringer added.
The scientists discovered the new species of “pink” snail fish (Caraproctus colle) In 2019, while using a distance operated vehicle to explore Monterey Canyon.
Later that year, it is immersed with the submersible alvin occupied by humans, he found two newer species of snail fish at a depth of 13,100 feet (4,000 m): the “dark snail fish” black jet ” (Careproctus yanceyi) and the “Elegant snail fish“(Pararaliparis Em), A thin species without a suction disc.
“Distinguishing snail fish from each other is a puzzle,” said Geringer. “We are carefully looking at multiple characteristics, such as the amount of vertebrae and fins rays, the positions of the sensory pores and the shape and size of a specialized suction disc that some species use to paste their bellies to the rocks.”
The team compiled measurements and observed the different characteristics, together with genetic information, to compare the new specimens with any other known snail fish and find matches. “With each new evidence, it was clear that these three fish were not described, not previously known for science,” he said.
The team’s findings, published on August 27 in the magazine Ictiology and herpetologyDemonstrate not only that the snail fish is thriving for these depths of crushing, but also that a larger and richer biodiversity of the environment remains to be discovered.
“Accessing deep oceans is in itself the greatest challenge of this research and requires collaboration between engineers, scientists and ship crews,” said Geringer. “Many people are needed to discover a new species of deep water, they all gather their experience to achieve a shared goal.
“The fact that two non -described species of snail fish were collected from the same place, in the same immersion, in one of the best studied parts of the world’s depths in the world, how much we have to learn about our planet,” he said.
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