These Newly Discovered Deep-Sea Snailfish Just Became Our Latest Obsession

The deep sea is home to some of the weirdest creatures on Earth, from ghostly elder fish to carnivorous harp sponges. Sometimes, scientists discover more humble creatures that are so tiny that they go unnoticed until new technology brings them into view.

Such efforts rarely disappoint. Using an underwater robot camera, researchers discovered three new species of deep-sea snailfish: one bumpy, one dark, and one sleek. In a new paper published in Ichthyology and Herpetology, researchers explain how CT scans and DNA sequencing revealed that the three fish had features unlike any other known species, confirming their novelty.

“Our discovery of not one, but three, new species of snailfishes is a reminder of how much we have yet to learn about life on Earth and of the power of curiosity and exploration,” Mackenzie Gerringer, study lead author and a marine scientist at SUNY Geneseo, said in a statement.

Some complimentary snailfish trivia

Snailfish are charming yet funky creatures. Although features vary among the 400 known species, they’re typically small, tadpole-shaped, and sport large, jelly-like heads. A disk on their belly allows them to either stick to the seafloor or “hitchhike on larger animals,” according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI).

“They come in beautiful colors,” Johanna Weston, an ecologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution not involved in the new work, told the New York Times. “They also have a lovely little smile on their face.”

Snailfish that live in shallow waters will curl up against rocks or seaweed like snails, like their namesake. Snailfish in deep-sea trenches, on the other hand, are trickier to find, although a snailfish holds the record for the deepest-dwelling fish.

Meet the new snailfish

All three species were first discovered in 2019 over two expeditions off the coast of Central California. MBARI’s underwater robot explorer found the bumpy snailfish swimming at a depth of 10,722 feet (3,268 meters). The dark and sleek snailfish, on the other hand, swam even deeper, at about 13,451 feet (4,100 meters). The robot captured one of each species, carefully bringing them back to the lab for analysis.

The bumpy snailfish (Careproctus colliculi) is pink and round but bumpy all around, whereas the dark snailfish (Careproctus yanceyi) is fully black with a round head and horizontal mouth. Unlike these two, the sleek snailfish (Paraliparis em) has a long, “laterally compressed body” and an angled jaw.

Scientists aren’t sure yet how common these species are, but so far it appears that the bumpy snailfish may be the rarest. This particular encounter with the bumpy snailfish is the only confirmed observation of the species, the researchers said. The intention is to continue searching for more to understand these species’ geographic distribution. Hopefully, this won’t be the last time we meet these creatures.