expedition to the Atacama Trench

[Itoero]

An expedition to the Atacama Trench has uncovered a wealth of information.

They found three new fish species. They do not conform to the preconceived stereotypical image of what a deep-sea fish should look like. Instead of giant teeth and a menacing frame, the fishes that roam in the deepest parts of the ocean are small, translucent, bereft of scales—and highly adept at living where few other organisms can.

https://phys.org/news/2018-09-species-fish-extreme-depths-pacific.html#jCp

[lucks_021]

I know it's maybe a stupid question, but I am a layman about this topic. Why are this fishes species translucent? If that is to survive the predators or something, why all fishes aren't? (sorry about my English, I'm learning it too)

[StringJunky]

28 minutes ago, lucks_021 said:

I know it's maybe a stupid question, but I am a layman about this topic. Why are this fishes species translucent? If that is to survive the predators or something, why all fishes aren't? (sorry about my English, I'm learning it too)

It's not a stupid question. Making colour pigments takes energy (food, which will be scarce in the dark depths) and there is no evolutionary reason, like protecting from harmful light rays, hiding, etc  for the fish to evolve to  be coloured. To put it simply: deep sea organisms generally aren't going to make something they don't need to survive or reproduce, especially when food is hard to find.

Edited September 29, 2018 by StringJunky

[studiot]

3 hours ago, StringJunky said:

It's not a stupid question. Making colour pigments takes energy (food, which will be scarce in the dark depths) and there is no evolutionary reason, like protecting from harmful light rays, hiding, etc  for the fish to evolve to  be coloured. To put it simply: deep sea organisms generally aren't going to make something they don't need to survive or reproduce, especially when food is hard to find.

+1

[michel123456]

7 hours ago, StringJunky said:

It's not a stupid question. Making colour pigments takes energy (food, which will be scarce in the dark depths) and there is no evolutionary reason, like protecting from harmful light rays, hiding, etc  for the fish to evolve to  be coloured. To put it simply: deep sea organisms generally aren't going to make something they don't need to survive or reproduce, especially when food is hard to find.

But they have eyes. In an environment without light.

[StringJunky]

27 minutes ago, michel123456 said:

But they have eyes. In an environment without light.

Which will be adapted to that environment. It will likely be relatively rudimentary in what they can detect and the frequency range they can detect in. No doubt there are exceptions. Some organisms are luminescent, so some will be adapted to see that.

Edited September 29, 2018 by StringJunky

[Itoero]

9 hours ago, lucks_021 said:

(sorry about my English, I'm learning it too)

That's ok.My use of English is probably worse, I often quote things and use google translate  

Those fishes can't deal with sunlight and are adapted to live under huge water pressure. Deepsea fish should be left in the depth of the sea.

[studiot]

Thank you for posting this itoero.  +1

I didn't see the video first time.

 

Did you see the BBC Attenborough series Blue Planet 2?

 

You could compare his deep sea shots with these.

[lucks_021]

Thank you Stringjunky, your answer was really helpful, mainly this part:

10 hours ago, StringJunky said:

deep sea organisms generally aren't going to make something they don't need to survive or reproduce, especially when food is hard to find.

And Itoero, I usually use  "Grammarly", its a google chrome extension that helps when I write on forums. (I think they have a windows app too)

1 hour ago, Itoero said:

That's ok.My use of English is probably worse, I often quote things and use google translate  

 

Edited September 29, 2018 by lucks_021

[Itoero]

23 hours ago, studiot said:

 

Did you see the BBC Attenborough series Blue Planet 2?

 

You could compare his deep sea shots with these.

I just did..those are amazing!

Aren't deep sea shots from Blue Planet taken a lot higher in the ocean? According to Wikipedia deep sea organisms generally inhabit  zones from 1000-6000m Yet the three new fish species they found live at 7500m bellow the surface.

At 7500m depth you have extreme pressure, low conc. oygen, no light and a temperature that rarely exceeds 3 °C (37.4 °F) and falls as low as −1.8 °C (28.76 °F).https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_sea_fish

[studiot]

3 hours ago, Itoero said:

Aren't deep sea shots from Blue Planet taken a lot higher in the ocean?

I seem to remember one of the programmes in the series went down into Mindanao deep.

Perhaps someone with a better memory will confirm or refute that?