Unexpected Life Found In The Ocean's Deepest Trench
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Once on the bottom, they waited and watched. And they got some big surprises. "We saw the deepest living fish ever recorded," says Drazen. "Definitely something new. We took one look at the thing and were amazed — big wide wing-like fins, this eel-like tail and this scalloped face. It was very unique." They nicknamed it the "ghost fish" for its almost translucent skin. It appears to be a new species of snailfish — living 5 miles below the surface.
The landers also carried baited traps that drew fish to be videotaped. What the fish didn't eat was consumed by hordes of shrimp-like amphipods. Other traps actually caught animals, including another new species of snailfish. Several were brought back up to the ship, though they didn't survive the decompression.
The reason the fish can withstand pressure that's thousands of times that at the surface is because of a special chemical in their bodies. Called trimethylamine oxide, it keeps the cell walls of the fish and amphipods flexible instead of being crushed or infiltrated with salt water.
The scientists also wanted to know what lives in the sediment at the bottom. The sediment is made of decomposed ocean life that constantly drifts down from above like snow. The landers dug into the sediment and measured the respiration rate of microbes in it. Drazen says the results were astonishing. "The rates were really high; it was incredible. It was really cooking."
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http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/12/25/372894314/unexpected-life-found-in-the-oceans-deepest-trench
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