The snailfish eats small crustaceans and mostly shrimp. The adult snailfish diet comprises krill, crustaceans, fish, gammarids, natantian decapods, and many more sea critters. Snailfish typically do not have predators. They are the top predators in their deep-sea habitat. Snailfish belong to the kingdom Animalia, the phylum Chordata, the ray-finned fish class Actinopterygii, the order Scorpaeniformes, and the family Liparidae.
The Mariana snailfish is a newly described species that now holds the crown for the deepest fish in the sea, thriving at depths of up to about 8,000 meters. At these depths, they live without the fear of predation. These Mariana snailfish eat tiny crustaceans that are trapped in the trenches. Generally deep sea organisms have the same pressure as that of their surrounding water. These organisms also possess large lungs and air sacs which helps in maintaining their internal pressure of the body so as to overcome the external pressure. This way the equilibrium is maintained and survival also maintained.
The snailfish family contains approximately 23 genera and 195 species. They are closely related to the sculpins and the lumpfish. Snailfish are small, growing to a maximum length of about 30 centimeters. Some, such as the sea snail of the North Atlantic, live in shore waters; others inhabit the deep sea.
The lifespan of the snailfish is 10-13 years. The Snailfish lays a couple hundred eggs. Some people have seen them carrying the eggs in their mouth. They eat all freshwater plants including dead plant material and debris. They also eat cucumber and fish flakes. The ethereal snailfish is a species of deep-sea fish found at great depths and deepest trenches. Although the exact number is unknown, there are 410 species of snailfish found nearly in various oceans. Mariana snailfish live at great ocean floor depths across countries like South America, Japan, and the Atlantic.
How do snailfish survive?
Snailfish use their soft skeleton and partially open skull to survive intense crushing pressure in some of the deepest areas of the ocean, according to a study. Researchers caught several snailfishes to study how they had adapted to the deep sea and compared them to closely-related species living in shallow waters.
The Mariana Trench is deeper than Mount Everest is tall and anything living there has to survive the cold water and extremely high pressure. Some animals, including the deep-sea crustaceans Hirondellea gigas, do live there —and they have recently had a human visitor.
You’d think that nothing could survive in these conditions, but the hadal zone (named after the Greek God of the underworld, Hades) actually hosts an active ecosystem — and at the top of that ecosystem is the snailfish.
But the Mariana snailfish is not only abundant in this area; it’s the region’s top predator. How does an animal make a living in such an extreme place?
In a study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, Chinese researchers examined the anatomy and genetics of the fish. The team picked up specimens from around 23,000 feet below sea level using remotely-operated landers, and analyzed the creatures’ genes, proteins, and anatomy.
Snailfish use their soft skeleton and partially open skull to survive intense crushing pressure in some of the deepest areas of the ocean, according to a study.
A number of species manage to survive in deep sea waters, but the hadal snailfish is the deepest-known fish. The hadal snailfish has been recorded 8,200 meters (27,000 feet) below the surface.
Hadal snailfish have a few special adaptations that allow them to survive in such harsh conditions. Unlike other shallow-dwelling fish species, they lack a swim bladder. Where others use a swim bladder to move up and down in the water column, in the deep sea it becomes a liability under pressure.
In fact, this is one of the deepest fish to ever be collected from the ocean floor.
To survive 7000 metres below the surface of the sea, the Yap hadal snailfish has evolved advanced mechanisms for repairing its DNA and safeguarding its proteins.
What is the deepest fish ever found?
In November 2014, scientists discovered the deepest fish ever caught in situ. This fish is the Mariana snailfish that belongs to the Liparidae family. It was discovered at a depth of 8,143 meters in the Mariana Trench by Alan Jamieson and Thomas Linley aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute Vessel RV Falkor.
The Mariana snailfish lives deeper than any other known fish species in the Mariana Trench, approximately 27,460 feet below sea level. Scientists believe 27,900 feet is the maximum depth possible for fish to survive. Unlike other deep-sea fish, young snailfish are generally found at greater depths than adults.
In August 2022, scientists filmed a snailfish swimming at 8,336 meters deep in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench near Japan. This is the deepest fish ever captured on film, breaking the previous record by 158 meters. The fish was attracted by mackerel bait tied to an autonomous camera. Chief scientist Alan Jamieson says the ability of snailfish to survive such extreme depths is truly astonishing.
Do snailfish have eyes?
Snailfish are mysterious deep-sea dwellers. They don’t have scales or swim bladders. Instead, they produce a gelatinous substance that keeps them buoyant. Snailfish have small eyes and elongated, tadpole-like bodies. Their heads are large compared to their slender bodies. They taper to very small tails. The dorsal and anal fins may merge with the tail fin. Snailfish range from 5 cm to 77 cm in length and some species weigh up to 21 kg.
In the Mariana Trench, a snailfish was found at a depth of 8.143 km, making it the deepest living fish ever seen. Snailfish live in various habitats, from shallow waters to extreme depths. Some species live inside scallops while others prefer kelp forests or muddy bottoms. There are 361 known snailfish species.
Temperatures are freezing miles below the deep seas. Some snailfish have anti-freeze proteins in their DNA to prevent freezing. These fish lay some of the biggest eggs, measuring 0.37 inches in diameter compared to the average fish egg diameter of 0.039 inches. At 26,716 feet deep, scientists discovered the Mariana snailfish, the deepest ocean dweller on record. It’s strange these fish retain eyes despite living where no light penetrates. After millions of years adapting to darkness, some cave fish species evolved to lose vision over just centuries or millennia.