Fish photographed at deepest level ever off Japanese coast

The deepest fish ever to be recorded in the ocean has been photographed off the coast of Japan by scientists, according to sources.

Researchers, including those from the University of Western Australia, filmed the snailfish of the genus Pseudoliparis, which was swimming at about 8,336m, or about 27,349ft, reported BBC News.

The juvenile fish, about the size of a human palm is covered in translucent, scaleless skin, was found near the Izu-Ogaswara trench by scientists. The fish species cannot yet be identified from the image.

The record just broken for the deepest ever recorded fish was held by the Mariana snailfish (Pseudoliparis swirei), which was discovered in 2014 at about 8,200m in the Mariana trench.

“Our CEO, professor Alan Jamieson, has just broken the previous record for the deepest-ever fish, with this recent observation of a snailfish in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench, near Japan,” tweeted deep-sea exploration venture Armatus Oceanic.

“The deepest fish observed now sits at 8336m!” it added.

These creatures live in the deepest and darkest part of the ocean called the hadal zone where no light penetrates and depths can reach between 6 km and 11 km.

The snailfish are suction feeders eating tiny crustaceans on the floor of the ocean.

“If this record is broken, it would only be by minute increments, potentially by just a few meters,” Mr Jamieson told the BBC.

Researchers said the fish was captured on camera “very close to” the maximum depth that any fish can survive.

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