Snailfish spotted at record 5 miles below surface

University of Hawaii scientists say one of two new species of snailfish found in the Mari­ana Trench near Guam swims at the deepest depth ever recorded.

Scientists were unable to catch the variety of snailfish spotted at more than 5 miles below the water’s surface.

"We saw it three times but we never caught it," scientist Jeff Drazen said of the translucent white fish with broad winglike fins and an eel-like tail found at a depth of 26,716 feet.

"It’s definitely our white whale."

They did, however, capture the other species, which was found at depths between 19,685 and 26,247 feet.

In addition to University of Hawaii scientists, the international expedition team included researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego.

Drazen, who returned from the monthlong expedition on Dec. 10, said the captured snailfish species measures 6 to 7 inches long and weighs no more than half a pound. It has special molecules that help protein function under high pressure.

At more than 26,000 feet of depth, the pressure is crushing, like "100 elephants on your head," Drazen said.

In addition, from the inner slopes of the Mari­ana Trench — the deepest part of the world’s oceans — scientists collected the deepest-depth rock samples ever obtained.

The exploration was conducted aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor and with co-chief scientists Drazen and Patty Fryer of UH’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.

The expedition used five deep-sea landing vehicles at various depths between 16,404 and 34,777 feet to explore the trench’s marine life and geology.