It was caught on camera at 8,330 metres deep in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench, which is a new record.

Scientists caught and filmed an unknown species of Pseudoliparis, a type of snailfish, in the Izu-Ogasawara trench off the coast of Japan. The ditch is 8,336 metres (27,350 feet) deep. Both the record for the deepest fish ever found and the record for the deepest point at which a fish has been filmed have been broken by this fish.

This ditch is warmer and better for living things than the Mariana trench, but it is not as deep. Because the water around Japan is very productive, more stuff sinks into this ditch than into the Mariana, making it a better place for living things to live.

Life in these places is affected by depth, pressure, and temperature, but weather can also be very important. Things can live deeper in the Izu-Ogasawara trench than in the Mariana trench, which is colder, because it is warmer there.

The fact that the Pseudoliparis was found at such a deep depth is important because this genus doesn’t usually live in deep seas. Most snailfish live in shallow water, like in marshes. It’s interesting to see how they’ve adapted to live at such great depths.

At these depths, the snailfish eat small crustaceans that eat the dead animals that fall into the trench from the top. This stuff can sink over weeks or months, but the hungry crabs build a food web out of whatever they can find, which keeps the ecosystem going even in this harsh environment.

These deep-sea creatures’ discovery makes us think of how diverse life is on Earth and how important it is to explore the ocean’s depths to learn more about and respect it. Even though there aren’t any warmer trenches that deep, the fact that the Pseudoliparis was found there shows that we still have a lot to learn about the deep sea’s secrets.