Scientists from the National Institute for Aquatic and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in New Zealand discovered a belly-up red anglerfish and other unusual animals in the Kermadec Trench at a depth of 5,736 meters above sea level. Reported by Live Science.
A research team from China and New Zealand spent several hours aboard the IDSSE research vessel Tansuoyihao during an expedition to Kermadec Trough in November 2022. Marine biologist Karin Schnabel and pilot Deng Yu Qing became the first women to reach the bottom of the pit.
During the expedition, scientists encountered a rare deep-sea star. hymenasterfirst discovered in the 1950s and never seen again.
The scientists also observed that it ate the carcass of a large sunfish, which became food for dozens of deep-sea fish and thousands of crustaceans.
Some of the weird sea creatures may be new to science. Typically, fishermen lie on the bottom, using bait to catch their prey. But an unusual red lantern of the breed gigantactis It swims upside down with bait hanging from above.
The Kermadec Trench, which is more than a thousand kilometers long, is located off the northern coast of New Zealand. Its deepest point, called the Scholl Deep, is 10,047 m above sea level.