Scientists observe a new species of snailfish living at 7000 meters (or about 23,000 feet) below the ocean surface in a deep ocean trench. According to one scientist, “The immense isolation of each trench draws parallels with island evolution theory popularised by Darwin’s finches.” More via Physorg.com:

These latest discoveries provide a new insight into the depths at which fish survive and the diversity of populations which could exist in the deepest points of oceans across the globe.

Dr Alan Jamieson from the University of Aberdeen’s Oceanlab, who led the expedition 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.

“This expedition was prompted by our findings in 2008 and 2009 off Japan and New Zealand where we discovered new species of snailfish known as Liparids – inhabiting trenches off Japan and New Zealand at depths of approximately 7000m — with each trench hosting its own unique species of the fish.

“To test whether these species would be found in all trenches, we repeated our experiments on the other side of the Pacific Ocean off Peru and Chile, some 6000 miles from our last observations.

“What we found was that indeed there was another unique species of snailfish living at 7000m — entirely new to science, which had never been caught or seen before.