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IMAGE: Yap hadal snailfish (YHS) in situ at 6,903 m (above) and after capture (below). view more
Credit: Mu Y et al., 2021, PLOS Genetics
A new whole genome sequence for the Yap hadal snailfish provides insights into how the unusual fish survives in some of the deepest parts of the ocean. Xinhua Chen of the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University and Qiong Shi of the BGI Academy of Marine Sciences published their analysis of the new genome May 13th in the journal
PLOS Genetics.
Animals living in deep-sea environments face many challenges, including high pressures, low temperatures, little food and almost no light. Fish are the only animals with a backbone that live in the hadal zone defined as depths below 6,000 meters and hadal snailfishes live in at least five separate marine trenches. Chen, Shi and their colleagues constructed a high-quality whole genome sequence from the Yap hadal snailfish to understand how it has adapted to life in the deep sea. The
Mu Y et al., 2021, PLOS Genetics
With pressure pushing down on it, a deep-sea fish has evolved a catalogue of adaptations to help it survive in the crushing depths of the Pacific Ocean. The fish has extra genes for repairing its DNA and for making a chemical that stabilises essential proteins. It has also lost many of the genes that underpin the sense of smell, perhaps because it has a limited diet.
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Because the new species was found in the hadal zone, which begins at 6000 metres below sea level, it has been tentatively called Yap hadal snailfish. At such depths, there is no sunlight, the water is cold, food is scarce and the pressure is intense.