Five rarely seen fish have been collected from one of the world’s deepest ocean trenches.
The hadal snail fish were caught using specialised equipment at a depth of 7km in the Kermadec Trench.
It is just the second time in more than 60 years this species of fish has been caught. They are the second deepest-swimming fish ever seen alive.
The trip to the trench was completed by NIWA in collaboration with Scotland’s University of Aberdeen.
Catching the fish involved dropping baited traps which lured in small organisms, which ultimately attracted the snail fish.
Cameras were also dropped to get video and photos of other possible life in the trench.
The aim of the task was to examine fish that live in deep water and their levels of trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) – a stabiliser, which counteracts the effects of pressure at depth.
In a statement, marine ecologist Dr Ashely Rowden said a lot of effort went in to catching the fish.
We knew that if we caught them as deep as possible it would go a long way to testing the hypothesis, he said.
“Catching five of them also meant we had the physical specimens to confirm their taxonomic characteristics.”
Test results showed the highest recorded level of TMAO, leaving scientists to suggest that fish cannot live in the deepest 25 percent of the ocean between 8.2km and 11km.
2013 MediaWorks TV