Deep-sea discovery: New fish found at a depth of over 8000m

Scientists have newly discovered fish 8336 metres below sea level. Only very specialised creatures can survive in this kind of extreme environment.

Australian and Japanese marine biologists have newly discovered fish at a depth of 8336 metres, setting a new record. Never before has a fish been spotted so far below the ocean surface.

This new finding surpasses the previous record by approximately 160 metres. In addition, two fish were caught for the first time at depths below 8000 metres.

The extraordinary find was made in the Boning Trench, south of Japan. The research team used a diving robot to reach these depths, which was equipped with bait and a camera.

The fish found have small, dark eyes, a transparent body and somewhat resemble the shape of tadpoles. They do not have a swim bladder, which is what usually enables fish to maintain depth without floating or sinking.

To survive at this depth, the entire organism must be adapted to the extreme environmental conditions. In the deep sea trenches it is cold, dark and the water pressure is enormous.

At the site where the fish was found, this pressure is more than 800 times the atmospheric pressure to which we humans are exposed to. This is comparable to the pressure that the weight of several hundred trucks would exert on one square meter.

For recreational divers, it gets tricky after just a few dozen metres. With special pressure suits, dives to a depth of around 450 metres are within the realm of possibility, but at several thousand meters, the human body and all its organs would simply be crushed.