Aquatic Apparition

No matter how extreme the environment, no matter how inhospitable the circumstances, it seems that life always finds a way to survive and surprise us. Even in the depths of the Mariana Trench – the deepest place on earth and the very bottom of the world – life exists in a place that is so alien that it may as well be the dark side of the moon.

Here, at depths of over 2,500 metres, an expedition from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was able to capture on video a previously undiscovered fish from the Aphyonidae family – the first time such a specimen has ever been seen alive. Enduring absolute darkness and pressures over 1,000 times that found at the surface, the pale “ghost fish” was filmed slowly feeding along a ridge feature.

As you might expect in a pitch-black environment where meals are few and far between, the fish is only 10cm long and has gelatinous, almost transparent skin that lacks scales of any kind. Similarly lacking are its eyes – features the secretive fish would have little use for in a completely lightless world.

Most of the specimens ever found in the Aphyonidae family were accidentally caught during trawling or dredging operations, but this remarkable living specimen has now added more weight to the theory that these fish are bottom-feeders rather than pelagic inhabitants of the open oceans. And although little else is known about this mysterious and ghostly fish, one thing is certain – that there are still many more amazing creatures out there waiting to be discovered, and that Mother Nature will always have another surprise up her sleeve.