Deepest ever fish caught on camera: 08-10-2008
Japan may be famous for its seafood, but scientists have released startling video footage of a species unlikely to ever have been eaten by man.
The footage is of a group of ghostly snailfish that live 7.7 kilometres below the surface of the Pacific Ocean - the deepest live fish ever recorded.
This is the first time scientists have ever seen the species alive, with the only other record of their existence being five pickled specimens trawled up in the 1950s.
University of Aberdeen Oceanlab director Monty Priede explained the significance of his team's discovery.
"Not only have we shown these fish alive for the first time, but we have multiplied by five the total number known to science," he told Discovery News.
The remarkable footage was filmed in the Japan Trench and shows the small shoal being led by a foot-long fish as they seized on the dead mackerel left as bait by the scientists.
The fishes' survival at this depth is even more surprising when you consider the pressure is the equivelent to '1,600 elephants on the roof of a Mini'.