Fishy Friday 🌊

This is a Bathypterois sp., a tripod fish. Solitary and stationary, these deep-sea denizens perch above the seafloor using specialized fin rays and face into the current. When an unsuspecting copepod or other tiny crustacean drifts by, this animal is set to snack. The #Doldrums science team recorded this footage at 2,040 meters — 1.3 miles beneath surface waters. They were surveying a large landslide scar on the southern flank of the Doldrums transform fault. These fault zones circulate water into the seafloor and through the crust, later releasing it with new chemical compositions— some of which feed deep-sea bacteria that fuel thriving ecosystems in the deepest, darkest parts of the Ocean. While chemosynthetic ecosystems are well documented along the ridge, little is known about what lives on the fault zones. The month-long expedition to the mid-Atlantic Ocean discovered two rare types of hydrothermal vent fields; it was also rich with deep-sea animal encounters. On one of the dives, the team observed two elusive bigfin squids (Magnapinna sp.) and captured the first footage of a particular species of barreleye fish (Winteria telescopa). “We arrived searching for vents, faults, and seamounts. We leave with something even more valuable: a deeper understanding of ecosystems in one of the least explored regions of the Atlantic Ocean,” said Dr. Paula Zapata Ramirez, assistant professor at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. “Every sample, every image, and every discovery brings us one step closer to understanding the hidden parts of our planet.” Credit: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute