The deepest fish in the sea is much more successful than she looks

There may be nothing new under the sun. But something new was just discovered deep in the ocean.

The Mariana Trench, in the western pacific, near Guam, is the deepest stretch of ocean on Earth. These waters are mysterious and difficult to study, but so far scientists know the depths are home to amphipods and other crustaceans, sea cucumbers, jellyfish, and tiny one-celled organisms called foraminifera. Now, we know the deepest waters are also home to the Mariana snailfish. This two-inch-long, translucent, scaleless fish has just won the crown for most intrepid sea traveler among the fishes, swimming deeper than 26,600 ft. Officially known as pseudoliparis swirei, the snailfish was introduced to the world in the journal Zootaxa (pdf) on Nov. 28.