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New fish species discovered in deep Peru-Chile trench

By Mario Sandoval

(10/15/2010)A new species of snailfish living nearly 23,000 feet below the surface of the sea have been discovered by scientists from Aberdeen University in Scotland, reports The Press and Journal.

The Scottish marine biologists, with experts from Japan and New Zealand, made the findings in the Peru-Chile trench in the southeast Pacific Ocean, one of the deepest places on earth.

The scientists also saw mass groupings of cusk-eels and large crustacean scavengers for the first time at these depths.

Alan Jamieson, the expedition's leader, said: “Our findings, which revealed diverse and abundant species at depths previously thought to be void of fish, will prompt a rethink into marine populations at extreme depths.”

The three-week expedition used deep-sea imaging technology to take 6,000 pictures.