Monterey Canyon, Pacific Ocean —(Map)
Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have discovered a previously unknown kind of snailfish living over 2 miles (3.27 kilometers) below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. But if you were imagining a large, scary creature – you’d be wrong. One researcher described the fish as “adorable”.
Snailfish are odd fish. They have large heads and a “jelly-like” body. Instead of scales, they have loose skin. Many have a special disc on their belly that lets them grab on to the sea floor, or even catch a ride on an animal like a crab.
Some snailfish are found in shallow areas of the ocean, where they grab onto rocks and curl up like a snail. Others live far down in the depths of the sea. The world’s deepest-living fish is actually a snailfish.
Snailfish have large heads and a “jelly-like” body. Some snailfish are found in shallow areas of the ocean. Others live far down in the depths of the sea. Scientists discovered the bumpy snailfish (above) living over 2 miles (3.27 kilometers) below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
(Source: © 2019 MBARI.)
No light from the surface reaches down to these depths, making them almost completely dark. The temperature is generally similar to the inside of a refrigerator. And the pressure is about 300 times as great as it is at the surface. Anything living at these depths needs some special tricks to be able to survive.
Mackenzie Gerringer teaches biology at SUNY Geneseo*, where she focuses on life in the deep sea. Dr. Gerringer says it’s amazing how creatures adapt to live under such difficult conditions.
Scientists also need special tricks to explore at these depths. In 2019, researchers from MBARI, led by scientist Steven Haddock, made a trip to study life deep under the sea off the coast of central California.
To explore at such great depths, the MBARI team used a special two-person submarine called Alvin. They also used an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) named “Doc Ricketts” (above).
(Source: Randy Prickett and Erich Rienecker, © 2018 MBARI.)
To explore at such great depths, the MBARI team used a special two-person submarine called Alvin. They also used an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) named “Doc Ricketts”. The ROV is named for a famous marine scientist.
Because the deep ocean is so hard to reach, most of it has not been studied. But the area where the researchers were working has been studied more than most deep water sites. Even so, the scientists were surprised by what they discovered.
The cameras of the Doc Ricketts ROV caught sight of a pink snailfish with bumpy skin swimming in the dark, cold waters. The fish was about as long as a pack of playing cards. Far from being scary, the fish looked almost cute.
(Source: © 2019, MBARI.)
The cameras of the Doc Ricketts ROV caught sight of a pink snailfish with bumpy skin swimming in the dark, cold waters. The fish was about as long as a pack of playing cards. Far from being scary, the fish looked almost cute. “It’s pretty adorable,” Dr. Gerringer told the New York Times.
But deep-sea snailfish can be very difficult to identify from an image or a video. Luckily, the ROV was able to collect the fish so that the animal could be studied further. And the Alvin captured not one, but two other unusual snailfish. One was very dark – almost completely black. The second also had black coloring, but it was long and thin.
The Alvin captured two other unusual snailfish. One was very dark – almost completely black. The second also had black coloring, but it was long and thin, similar to the fish seen above. All three of the snailfish found in the area were new to science.
(Source: © 2006, MBARI.)
Dr. Gerringer led an effort to carefully study and identify the snailfish. All three turned out to be species that scientists have never seen before.
“These three snailfishes are a reminder of how much we have yet to learn about life on Earth and of the power of curiosity and exploration,” she said.
* SUNY Geneseo stands for the State University of New York at Geneseo.
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