Scientists discover new type of eel-like fish in the Mariana Trench

Researchers are exploring an unknown world in the deepest waters of U.S. territory. A vessel owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is plumbing the depths of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, north of Guam in the western Pacific, looking to learn more about the biology, geology, topography and potential minerals there, until July 10.

In late June, the team happened upon a ghostly fish that had never been observed alive before. Its existence was only confirmed in decades past by dead samples plucked from the ocean floor using extremely long trawls.

The roughly four-inch long fish has eerie white skin and a tadpole-like tail, and was captured on camera on a ridge about 8200 feet underwater in the Pacific.

“I am sure that this is the first time a fish in this family has ever been seen alive,” Bruce Mundy, a fisheries biologist with NOAA, said in the video. “This is really an unusual sighting.”

Mundy added that the find helps scientists answer a question: do these creatures, which have only been found dead before, dwell in the water column, or down near the bottom of the ocean? The video, which was taken during a research mission to the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument and the Northern Mariana Islands by the agency’s ship Okeanos Explorer, suggests the latter, he said.

NOAA said in a statement that fish’s skin has no scales and is “transparent” and “gelatinous.”

Shirley Pomponi, the biology science team lead, compared the ghostly fish to a creature from a classic 1984 movie.

“Our interns think that the fish looks like Falkor, the dragon from the NeverEnding Story,” she said in the video.

Agencies/Canadajournal