Deepest living fish seen on video

The world's deepest-living fish have been seen alive for the first time thanks to video technology, scientists said.

The snailfish were captured on film nearly five miles (7,700 metres) beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean near Japan.

Researchers said the only previous examples of life which exists at that depth are held in museums.

The researchers from Aberdeen University's Oceanlab and Tokyo University made the discovery during an expedition on board the Japanese research ship Hakuho-Maru.

Equipment needed to carry out the filming was designed for the project. Submersible camera platforms were sent to the depths of the ocean trenches and remained on the seabed for two days before resurfacing.

Professor Monty Priede, director of Oceanlab, said: "We thought the deepest fishes would be motionless, solitary, fragile individuals eking out an existence in a food-sparse environment.

"But these fish aren't loners. The images show groups that are sociable and active - possibly even families - feeding on little shrimp, yet living in one of the most extreme environments on Earth.

"All we've seen before of life at this depth have been shrivelled specimens in museums. Now we have an impression of how they move and what they do."

The hadal snailfish seen by the researchers are found below 3.7 miles (6,000 metres), where they exist in total darkness, near- freezing temperatures and immense water pressure. They feed on the thousands of tiny shrimp-like creatures that scavenge the carcasses of dead fish and detritus reaching the ocean floor.

The two-week research expedition was part of an Oceanlab investigation looking at ocean life below 3.7 miles (6,000 metres).

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