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Fauna of the Mariana Trench. Who lives in the Mariana Trench? Deep sea fish of the mariana trench

The deepest part of the world ocean - the Mariana Trench is in no hurry to reveal its secrets to humanity. Research here is fraught with great risk, but what has been learned is changing many scientists' ideas about the structure of the world. Particularly impressive are the animals of the Mariana Trench, which have adapted to conditions that theoretically deny any terrestrial form of existence.

The sight of these creatures is fearful, but most of them are completely harmless. The strange shape of bodies, luminous organs, the absence of eyes, or, conversely, their incredible size are just the result of biological adaptation to a very unfriendly environment.

Life at great depths

The Mariana Trench (trench) was formed about 100,000,000 years ago, as a result of the deformation of the Pacific and Philippine lithospheric plates during convergence. Its length is over 1500 km, and the bottom width ranges from 1 to 5 km. But the most amazing parameter can be called the depth of the formation, reaching at the peak point - "Challenger Abyss" 10,994 m. This is 2 km higher than Mount Everest, if it is tipped down by the top.

"Bottom of the Earth"

For a long time it was believed that life in Mariana Trench impossible and there was every reason for such assumptions. The mysterious gutter was called "the bottom of the Earth" both in the literal and figurative, not entirely flattering sense of the word. The conditions here are really far from ideal:

The pressure at the bottom is 108.6 MPa, which is 1000 times higher than the norm. This explains the problematic immersion in the deepest underwater canyon in the world - even with modern technology it is difficult to create bathyscaphes that can withstand such a colossal load.

For comparison: normal atmosphere pressure at the surface of the earth is 0.1 MPa.

At a depth of over 1.2 km, absolute darkness reigns sunlight does not penetrate here. There is no photosynthesis, therefore, there are no algae and phytoplankton, without which, as previously thought, the formation of food chains is impossible.

The water temperature is very low. In theory, it should drop to minus values, but it stays between 1 and 4 ° C, thanks to hydrothermal vents known as black smokers. Geysers located at a depth of 1.6 km throw out streams of mineralized water heated to 450 ° C, but not boiling due to high pressure. It is she who raises the temperature of the adjacent layers, in parallel enriching them with useful substances.

"Black smokers" are dangerous because they actively emit hydrogen sulfide, which is very toxic to most organisms.

The water in the deeper layers is saltier and saturated with carbon dioxide, which interferes with breathing. At the bottom of the depression there is a unique Champagne geyser that emits liquid carbon. The water also contains impurities of mercury, uranium and lead, which, according to scientists, accumulate at great depths.

The bottom is covered with viscous mucus, which is an organic remains, descended from upper layers.

Existence beyond

Despite the complete confidence in his absence, animal world The Mariana Trench is real and diverse. Fish living at a depth of 6,000 m or more, as well as other representatives of the marine fauna, do not feel pressure, since their body cells are permeable and saturated with water. That is, the load from the outside and from the inside is the same.

After all, a person also does not feel the pressure of the "air column", thanks to the oxygen dissolved in the blood, although on average, every inhabitant of the planet has a load of 2 tons.

This is interesting: when trying to rise to the surface, animals adapted to high pressure die. So far, it has not been possible to safely deliver at least one inhabitant of the Mariana Trench to the ground laboratories.

Instead of a swim bladder, some deep-sea fish are equipped with fat pads that help redistribute the load in the body, their bones are replaced by light cartilage, and muscles are practically absent. Therefore, the inhabitants of the mysterious abyss move in a peculiar way and unlike the relatives living closer to the surface of the sea.

The deepest oceanic trough has its own unique food chain. Most of the local inhabitants are fed by chemosynthetic bacteria that form colonies near "black" and "white smokers". Other protozoa organisms - single-celled foramanifera, living at the very bottom of the trough, process silt, creating a breeding ground for molluscs and crustaceans.

The fish pick up pieces of food, which, as if into a funnel, is drawn from the upper layers. To do this, they are equipped with a huge mouth, making up more than half of the body, with articulated jaws and sharp bent teeth. Smaller fish serve as food for large predators etc.

The inhabitants of the depths adapt to the complete absence of daylight in different ways. Some of them are equipped with photophores - special organs that emit a glow. Thus, you can protect yourself from predators, lure prey and distinguish between representatives of your own species in the dark.

Other fish react to pressure, electrical impulses and odors emitted by other organisms. Their body is dotted with thin processes with nerve endings that record the slightest changes in the environment.

And now more about the deep-sea inhabitants of the Mariana Trench.

Beauties and beasts

In 1960, American military Don Walsh and oceanographer Jacques Piccard from Switzerland became the first explorers to reach the "bottom of the earth". In the armored bathyscaphe "Trieste" they stayed in the "Challenger Abyss" for no more than 20 minutes, but managed to notice a school of flat fish, about 30 cm long. The find of "Trieste" became an important scientific confirmation of the habitability of great depths.

Today it is known that in the bottom part live:

giant tubular worms, up to 1.5 m long, without a mouth and anus;

mutated starfish, including ophiuras or snake-tails;

crabs;

octopuses;

sea \u200b\u200bcucumbers;

giant poisonous amoeba, about 10 cm in size, while usually these creatures do not exceed 5 mm;

molluscs that have managed to adapt to water saturated with hydrogen sulfide and high pressure;

jellyfish;

fish, including sharks.

Some of these incredible creatures are worth getting to know better.

This beautiful jellyfish of the Hydroid class (the Trachimedusa order) lives only at great depths - at least 700 m, and belongs to the nekton marine fauna. All her life she spends active movement, overcoming long distances in search of zooplankton, which mainly feeds on.

Bentokodon is small, about 2 - 3 cm in diameter, but it has a record number of the thinnest tentacles - up to 1500, which allow you to move very quickly in the water column. Its umbrella, unlike other jellyfish species, is opaque and reddish in color. Scientists suggest that, thus, the bentocodon "hides" the bioluminescent glow of the planktonic crustaceans eaten by it, so as not to attract the attention of predators.

A small - only 9 cm in length, a transparent octopus, crushing an alien angel, has telescopic vision. A unique feature allows him to see in almost impenetrable darkness, spotting prey in time and avoiding danger.

This is interesting: no other octopus species has telescopic eyes..

From the name it is clear that amphitretus prefers the pelagic zone of the ocean - that is, unlike other species of octopus, it rarely swims to the bottom areas. However, he is able to descend to a depth of 2000 m, moving not horizontally, but vertically.

The tentacles of the fragile handsome man are connected not by a continuous membrane, like in other mollusks of his order, but by thin transparent filaments resembling a cobweb.

The deepest octopus - some individuals of this species fall below the 7000 m mark. The grimpovetis mantle is decorated with two processes that resemble elephant ears, for which he received the nickname Dumbo, after the hero of the Disney cartoon of the same name.

The average size of the mollusk is 20-30 cm, however, an individual is known that has reached a length of 180 cm and weighed about 6 kg.

Despite its extensive habitat, grimpoteutis is considered one of the rarest and least studied species of octopus. It was not necessary to observe him in natural conditions. It is only known that this baby swallows the prey whole, while other cephalopods preliminarily tear it apart with their beak.

Grimpoteutis looks very unusual, especially when, with its ears apart, it soars in the ocean depths, looking for snails, worms and small crustaceans. Despite the "cosmic" appearance, the octopus Dumbo can not be called a terrible monster from the Mariana Trench - it is charming in its own way.

Deep sea angler (sea devil)

The fish, as if emerging from a nightmare, is actually just well adapted to life in a 3-kilometer water column with a pressure of up to 30 MPa. "Sea devil" is characterized by pronounced sexual dimorphism. Females are much larger than males: from 5 to 100 cm versus 4 cm, respectively. Representatives of both sexes are painted in camouflage dark brown shades and are covered not with scales, but with growths in the form of plaques and thorns.

The predator, which resembles an eel or sea snake, belongs to relict species. Its length rarely exceeds 2 m, its body is elongated, and its movements are wriggling, like in reptiles.

The shark feeds on squid and fish, sometimes "diluting" the diet with stingrays and smaller relatives. It hunts around the clock, hiding at the bottom and, like a snake, guarding its prey. Due to the fact that the "living fossil" rarely rises to the surface, preferring to remain at around 1500 km, the species managed to survive.

In its sector, where other sharks rarely swim, the "frilled bearer" is considered a formidable predator, however, rising to the surface, the fish weakens and often dies from the pressure drop.

Even among the bizarre animals that live in the Mariana Trench, this fish has an amazing structure. Her head is crystal clear and her telescopic eyes see through the skin. The elastic membrane that covers the upper part of the body is filled with fluid, in which the organs of vision "float", and between them there is a bony membrane, where the brain is placed.

Small fish - up to 15 cm in length, feeds mainly on settling zooplankton. This is probably why her green, phosphorescent eyes are directed upward. Some prey, for example, poisonous stinging cells of jellyfish - cnidocytes or siphonophores can deprive macropine of vision, it is not surprising that the fish in the process of evolution has developed such an original way of protection.

The fish resembles in shape the simplest carpentry tool, from which it got its name. Unlike other deep-sea inhabitants, it has a beautiful silver-blue color, which allows it to seem to dissolve in the light when the hatchet rises closer to the ocean surface.

In the lower part of the abdomen, there are photophores giving a greenish glow. However, the most remarkable part of the animal is its huge telescopic eyes, giving it a terrifying and "otherworldly" look.

Invisible giants

It seems that creatures of gigantic proportions must live in a mysterious 11-kilometer abyss in order to withstand incredible pressure from outside. Hence the periodically emerging information about giant lizards, supposedly preserved at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, 20-meter prehistoric sharks megalodons, no less terrible octopuses, and so on.

While the deepest (lives at 8000 m below sea level) fish - bassogigas, does not even reach 1 m in length.

None of the expeditions that visited the Pacific Trench provided indisputable evidence that monsters unknown to science live at its bottom. Although the German researchers, who launched the "Highfish" bathyscaphe, claim that the device was attacked by a huge lizard. And even earlier, in 1996, an American deep-sea robot belonging to the ship Glomar Challenger tried to explore the depression and was half destroyed unknown creature... The monster gnawed at the steel ropes and damaged the solid structures of the platform, while making unimaginable sounds recorded by the instruments.

What secrets the Mariana Trench keeps and who lives there can be seen in the video:

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On May 31, 2009, the automatic submarine Nereus sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. According to measurements, it sank 10,902 meters below sea level. At the bottom, Nereus filmed a video, took some photos and even collected sediment samples at the bottom. Thanks to modern technologies, the researchers managed to capture a few representatives of the Mariana Trench, I suggest you get to know them as well.

The snout of this terrifying shark ends in a long beak-like outgrowth, and its long jaws can protrude far. The coloration is also unusual: close to pink

The male and female anglerfish differ in size a thousand times. The female spends most of her life in the coastal zone and can grow up to two meters in length. Mouth very large, protruding forward lower jaw and a retractable top, armed with a palisade of strong sharp teeth.

Darkly colored, there is no luminescence organ in the photophores. The chin has a tendril associated with the hypoid apparatus. True gill rakers are absent. Predators eating small fish and planktonic crustaceans. They inhabit, as a rule, at depths from 300 to 500 m (but can be found at a depth of up to 2000 m).

Length from 3 to 26 cm. They live in the deep waters of all oceans. Representatives of the genus Pseudoscopelus have luminous organs - photophores.

A ferocious predator despite its small size. It is one of the many species that inhabit the depths of the world's oceans. This fish grows to about 16 cm, has a long process directed towards its chin. This luminous appendage is used as bait, blinking it deflects back and forth. As soon as an unsuspecting fish swims close enough, it will immediately find itself in powerful jaws.

It grows up to three meters in diameter. The red color helps camouflage on the ocean floor. The stinging tentacles typical of jellyfish are missing.

This fish has a long and narrow body. Outwardly, it resembles an eel, for which it received another name - eel pelican. Its mouth has a giant stretching pharynx, reminiscent of a pelican's beak bag. Like many deep-sea inhabitants, bigmouths have body regions with photophores along the dorsal fin and in the tail. Thanks to its huge mouth, this fish is able to swallow prey that exceeds it in size.

A spotted, dark fish with huge glowing eyes and a fanged mouth lures its prey with the help of a bioluminescent shoot on its chin

It is believed that the viperfish can live at depths for 30 to 40 years. In captivity, it has a shorter lifespan - only a few hours.

These are incredibly fragile creatures, with fins as big as wings and a head that looks like a cartoon dog.

jellyfish of the family Rhopalonematidae

sea \u200b\u200bsnail from the order Gapnosomata (Gymnosomata), class Gastropoda.

a detachment of protozoa of the subclass of rhizomes with a cytoplasmic body, dressed with a shell

giant amoebas, which scientists have assigned the sonorous name of xenophiophores, reach 10 centimeters in size.

the bottom scavenger Scotoplanes Globosa is a marine invertebrate from the genus of deep-sea holothurians. live at a depth of a kilometer or more. The skin is colorless, almost transparent, since the animal lives in a world without light. Depending on the species, the animal has six or more pairs of legs, which are tubular growths on the abdomen. To move, the porpoise moves not by these processes themselves, but by the cavity on which they grow. The mouth is equipped with ten tentacles, with which the porpoise collects small organisms from the bottom. Scotoplanes Globosa are extremely common animals. Its share among all deep-sea inhabitants reaches 95%, which makes the porpoise the main "dish" in the diet of deep-sea fish. Scotoplanes Globosa, in addition to benthic organisms, feed on carrion. They have an excellent sense of smell, allowing them to detect a decaying carcass in complete darkness.

lead a planktonic lifestyle, moving from the gloomy depths of a thousand or more meters to the surface, constantly striving upward.

for a dark, almost black color is called a monkfish.

An underwater version of the Venus Flytrap. In the expectant state, their trapping apparatus is straightened, but if any small animal swims there, the "lips" are compressed like a trap, sending the prey into the stomach. To lure their prey, they use bioluminescence as bait.

The most amazing representatives of the polychaete worms. The worms are distinguished by the presence of small formations glowing with a greenish light, resembling a drop in shape. These tiny bombs can be thrown back, distracting the enemy in case of danger for several seconds, which gives the worms the opportunity to hide.

Representatives of this order are small, their body is enclosed in a bivalve chitinous, transparent shell. Swim easily with antennas or crawl with antennae and legs

In childhood, we all read many legends about incredible sea \u200b\u200bmonstersah, inhabiting the ocean floor, always knowing that these are just fairy tales. But we were wrong! These incredible creatures can be found even today if you dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth. What hides the Mariana Trench and who are its mysterious inhabitants - read in our article.

The deepest place on the planet - the Mariana Trench or Mariana Trench - is located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean near Guam, east of the Mariana Islands, from which its name comes. In its shape, the trench resembles a crescent, about 2550 km long and 69 km wide on average.

According to the latest data, the depth Mariana Trench is 10 994 meters ± 40 meters, which even exceeds the highest point on the planet - Everest (8 848 meters). So this mountain could well be placed on the bottom of the depression, moreover, about 2,000 meters of water would still remain above the top of the mountain. The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench reaches 108.6 MPa, which is more than 1,100 times the normal atmospheric pressure.

Man only sank to the bottom twice Mariana Trench... The first dive was made on January 23, 1960 by US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Picard on the Trieste submersible. They stayed at the bottom for only 12 minutes, but even during this time they managed to meet flat fish, although according to all possible assumptions life at such a depth should have been absent.

The second human dive took place on March 26, 2012. The third person to touch the mysteries Mariana Trench, became a film director James Cameron... He dived in a single-seat Deepsea Challenger and spent enough time there to sample, capture images and 3D video. Later, the footage he shot formed the basis of a documentary for the National Geographic Channel.

Due to the strong pressure, the bottom of the cavity is not covered with ordinary sand, but viscous mucus. For many years, the remains of plankton and crushed shells accumulated there, which formed the bottom. Again, due to the pressure, almost everything is at the bottom Mariana Trenchturns into fine grayish yellow thick mud.

Sunlight has never hit the bottom of the trench, and we expect the water to be icy there. But its temperature ranges from 1 to 4 degrees Celsius. IN Mariana Trench at a depth of about 1.6 km are the so-called "black smokers", hydrothermal vents that shoot water up to 450 degrees Celsius.

Thanks to this water in Mariana Trench life is supported as it is rich in minerals. By the way, despite the fact that the temperature is much higher than the boiling point, the water does not boil due to the very strong pressure.

The Daikoku Volcano is located at a depth of about 414 meters, which is the source of one of the rarest phenomena on the planet - lakes of pure molten sulfur. IN Solar system this phenomenon can only be found on Io, the moon of Jupiter. So, in this "cauldron" the seething black emulsion boils at 187 degrees Celsius. So far, scientists have not been able to study it in detail, but if in the future they can advance in their research, they may be able to explain how life appeared on Earth.

But the most interesting thing about Mariana Trench Are its inhabitants. After it was established that there was life in the trench, many expected to find incredible sea monsters there. For the first time, the expedition of the research vessel "Glomar Challenger" encountered something unidentified. They lowered a device, the so-called "hedgehog" with a diameter of about 9 m, made in the NASA laboratory from beams of ultra-strong titanium-cobalt steel into the depression.

Some time after the start of the descent of the apparatus, the device registering sounds began to transmit to the surface some kind of metallic grinding, reminiscent of the grinding of saw teeth on metal. Vague shadows appeared on the monitors, reminiscent of dragons with multiple heads and tails. Soon, scientists were worried that the valuable apparatus could forever remain in the depths of the Mariana Trench and decided to lift it aboard the ship. But when they pulled the hedgehog out of the water, their surprise only intensified: the strongest steel beams of the structure were deformed, and the 20-centimeter steel cable, on which it was lowered into the water, was half-sawn.

However, perhaps this story was too embellished by the newspaper people, since later the researchers found very unusual creatures there, but not dragons.

Xenophyophores - giant, 10-centimeter amoebas that live at the very bottom Mariana Trench... Most likely, due to strong pressure, lack of light and relatively low temperatures, these amoebas acquired enormous sizes for their species. But in addition to the impressive size, these creatures are also resistant to many chemical elements and substances, including uranium, mercury and lead, which are deadly to other living organisms.

Pressure in M arian trenchturns glass and wood into powder, so only creatures without bones or shell can live here. But in 2012, scientists discovered a clam. How he preserved his shell is still not known. In addition, hydrothermal vents emit hydrogen sulfide, which is fatal to shellfish. However, they learned to bind the sulfur compound into a safe protein, which allowed the population of these mollusks to survive.

And that is not all. Below you can see some of the inhabitants Mariana Trench, which scientists managed to capture.

Mariana Trench and its inhabitants

While our gaze is directed to the sky to the unsolved mysteries of space, there remains an unsolved mystery on our planet - the ocean. To date, only 5% of the world's oceans have been explored and secrets Mariana Trench this is just a small part of the secrets that are hidden under the water column.

Our Earth is 70% water and most of these vast water (including underwater) expanses remain poorly explored. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the most amazing and strange representatives of the animal world live in the depths of the sea. Today in our article we will talk about the most incredible deep-sea fish of the Mariana Trench and others ocean depths... Many of these fish were discovered by the human eye relatively recently, and many of them amaze us, humans, with their incredible and even fantastic appearance, structural features, habits and lifestyle.

Bassogigas is the deepest sea fish in the world

So, meet bassogigas - a fish that holds the absolute record for deep-water habitat. For the first time bassogigas was caught at the bottom of a trough near Puerto Rico at a depth of 8 km (!) From the John Eliot research ship.

Bassogigas.

As you can see, by appearance our deep-sea record holder differs little from ordinary fish, although in fact, despite the relatively typical appearance, his habits and lifestyle are still little studied by scientists zoologists, because conducting research at such a great depth is a very difficult task.

Drop fish

But already our next hero is difficult to reproach for "usualness", meet - a drop fish, which in our opinion has the strangest and most fantastic appearance.

Like an alien from outer space, isn't it? A drop fish lives on a deep ocean bottom near Australia and Tasmania. The size of an adult representative of the species is no more than 30 cm. In front of it there is a process that resembles our nose, and on the sides, respectively, there are two eyes. A drop fish does not have developed muscles and resembles something in its way of life - it slowly swims with an open mouth in expectation that the prey, and these are usually small invertebrates, will be nearby. After that, the drop fish swallows the prey. She herself is inedible and, moreover, is on the verge of extinction.

And here is our next hero - the sea bat, which in its appearance does not even look like a fish.

But, nevertheless, he is still a fish, although he cannot swim. The bat moves along the seabed, pushing off with its fins, so similar to legs. The bat lives in the warm deep waters of the world's oceans. The largest members of the species reach 50 cm in length. Bats are predators and feed on various small fish, but since they cannot swim, they lure their prey with a special bulb growing right from the head. This bulb has a specific smell that attracts fish, as well as worms and crustaceans (they also eat our hero), the bat itself patiently sits in ambush and as soon as potential prey is nearby, it abruptly grabs it.

Angler fish - deep sea fish with flashlight

The deep-sea Angler fish, living in the depths of the famous Mariana Trench, is especially remarkable for its appearance, thanks to the presence of a real fishing rod-flashlight on its head (hence its name).

The angler's fishing rod-flashlight is not only for beauty, but also serves the most practical purposes, with its help our hero also lures prey - various small fish, although due to his not small appetite and the presence of sharp teeth, the angler does not disdain to attack and on the larger representatives of the fish kingdom. Interesting fact: anglers often become victims of their own special voracity, as big fish due to the peculiarities of the structure of the teeth, he can no longer release prey, as a result of which he himself chokes and dies.

But back to his amazing biological flashlight, why does it glow? In fact, the light is provided by special luminous bacteria that live in close symbiosis with the anglerfish.

In addition to its main name, deep-sea angler fish has others: "sea devil", "anglerfish", because in its appearance, and habits, it can be safely attributed to deep-sea fish monsters.

The barrel-eye has perhaps the most unusual structure among deep-sea fish: a transparent head through which it can see with its tubular eyes.

Although the fish was first discovered by scientists back in 1939, it still remains poorly understood. It lives in the Bering Sea, off the west coast of the United States and Canada, and off the coast of northern Japan.

Giant amoeba

American oceanographers 6 years ago discovered living things at a record depth of 10 km. - gigantic. True, they no longer belong to fish, so bassogigas still takes the lead among fish, but it is these giant amoebas that are the absolute record holders among living creatures living at the greatest depth - the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest known on Earth. These amoebas were discovered using a special deep-sea camera, and to this day, the study of their life continues.