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New Fish Species Discovered 4.5 Miles Under the Ocean

Posted by Soulskill on from the how-does-it-taste dept.

eldavojohn writes "The University of Aberdeen's Oceanlab (a partner in the recent census of marine life) has discovered a new snailfish. That might not sound very exciting, unless you consider that its habitat is an impressive four and a half miles below the ocean's surface (video). If my calculations are correct, that's over ten and a half thousand PSI, or about seventy-three million Pascals. The videos and pictures are a couple years old, as the team has traveled around Japan, South America and New Zealand to ascertain the biodiversity of these depths. The group hopes to eventually bring specimens to the surface. It seems the deepest parts of the ocean, once thought to be devoid of life, are actually home to some organisms. As researchers build better technology for underwater exploration, tales of yore containing unimaginable monsters seem a little more realistic than before."

16 of 96 comments (clear)

  1. About seventy-three million Pascals by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or over 3.6 trillion Cobols.

    1. Re:About seventy-three million Pascals by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 4, Funny

      Or, as any seasoned coder would tell you, a single line of C.

      --
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  2. Units by pete-classic · · Score: 2, Informative

    That's about 715 atmospheres, in case anyone else is interested in remotely relatable units.

    -Peter

    1. Re:Units by pz · · Score: 2, Informative

      Although it's an astonishing pressure, it's static, and equilibrated. That is, just as atmospheric pressure is balanced by the pressure in our bodies, and therefore individual cells and organs do not have to withstand much if any of a pressure differential, the same will be true of these creatures despite the massive depths. The creatures aren't pressure vessels: Bringing them to the surface creates a huge pressure differential, causing them to rupture.

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  3. Re:probably a fish researcher fake fish by alangerow · · Score: 2, Funny

    There's a Slashdot article! "Science debunked because Anonymous Coward on Slashdot says so!"

  4. Sounds like.. by nilbog · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sounds like this snail works well ...
    ...

    (puts sunglasses on)
    ...

    under pressure.
    ...

    Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa......

    (Sorry I seem to have gotten lost on my way to reddit...)

    --
    or else!
    1. Re:Sounds like.. by Grim+Leaper · · Score: 2, Informative

      CSI: Miami? See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mznsEcZlM2I&feature=related

  5. Depth is irrelevant. by BitZtream · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Stop thinking about it like what would happen to you at that depth because thats not what happens.

    Everything in the body of the fish formed at that pressure, which means it doesn't really feel the pressure. Your body didn't. Its internal pressure is about 14psi, if you took it down there, it would be crushed until it reached equilibrium with the outside pressure.

    Likewise, if your brought the fish to the surface, or tried to, it would literally explode before it got to the surface as the internal pressure would be too great for its cells to contain.

    You can see the same thing if you pull a fish up from even 150 feet too quickly, its eyeballs will pop out of its skull and its internal organs sometimes pushed out of its mouth.

    We need to stop thinking that theres something special about life at these pressures or depths like its rare. We've known for 50 years there are fish down deeper than that, there were fish at the bottom of the Marianas trench, this one is slightly more than HALF that deep.

    When you are born at such pressures, anything else seems insane ... kind of like going into space without a space suit, which is pretty much what the fish would need to survive at the surface since its body is designed to operate at much higher pressures.

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    1. Re:Depth is irrelevant. by zero0ne · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Depth is relevant... Because there is no light that deep. What is their food source? how do they survive? How did their species evolve to make sure they were born with the same internal pressure? Like your example states, these fish didn't just swim on DOWN there one day and decide to call it home...

    2. Re:Depth is irrelevant. by jjohnson · · Score: 3, Informative

      What is their food source?

      Apparently there's a steady rain of nutrition from above, basically. Feces, skin cells, plant material, cast off crap... they live in a constant of surface particles wending their way down, much of which is edible to them.

      How did their species evolve to make sure they were born with the same internal pressure?

      You don't decide to be born at the same internal pressure as your parents, any that you, the poster, decided to be born as an oxygen breathing mammal. Fish at that pressure necessarily breed more fish at the same pressure--any who leave the safe pressure zone die rather than breed. How did you decide not to be born underwater? Your parents avoiding death by drowning in order to give birth to you.

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    3. Re:Depth is irrelevant. by blair1q · · Score: 3, Informative

      Obligatory Mythbusters reference.

  6. Not for years by DerekLyons · · Score: 3, Insightful

    " It seems the deepest parts of the ocean, once thought to be devoid of life, are actually home to some organisms."

    Do we really have to hear this every effing time a new deep sea species is discovered? The deeps haven't been thought of as being devoid of life for decades, if ever.

  7. Wow that's amazing by NotSoHeavyD3 · · Score: 4, Funny

    A fish that can live in solid rock. (I know, you meant 4.5 miles under the surface of the ocean.)

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  8. Re:Better adapted to space as well? by macraig · · Score: 2

    I didn't realize that was the case. There's a lot I don't know about biology.

  9. Fish have been reported deeper before by AC-x · · Score: 2, Informative

    An expedition to the Mariana Trench back in 1960 at a depth of 6.8 miles reported "a number of small sole and flounder swimming away". so it's been known for 50 years that vertebrates can survive at extreme depths (the deepest part of the ocean no less)

  10. Re:Goldilocks & exoplanets by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I can reply as an astronomer: 'Goldilocks' more ore less only refers to conditions that allow liquid water, which on earth seems to be the the only condition that must hold. An energy source will always be found, but afaik, no water == no life.

    Astronomers are not so close minded as you seem to suppose they are, but you have to start somewhere. It is hard enough (==impossible atm) to determine whether a planet can sustain life as we know it. Once we are able to do that, we will also look for other signs of life. From an astronomers perspective the entire habitable-planet-finding race is mostly a technological thing.

    Quite interesting research though: Detecting seasons, atmosphere variations (clouds), elements in the atmosphere (oxygen), pictures and spectra of individual planets.