【Canada Archives】

One Japanese organisation has gone where no one else has before.

The Canada ArchivesJapan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) has filmed a snailfish at a depth of 8,178 meters (26,830 ft) in the Mariana Trench -- a record depth for capturing a fish in video footage.

"We've set a world record for filming a fish at an accurately measured depth," JAMSTEC senior research scientist, Kazumasa Oguri, told the Japan Times.

The video was taken with 4K cameras mounted on JAMSTEC's deep-sea research vessel.

The purplish-looking Mariana snailfish, who is believed to have visited the trench to feed, was caught on camera, likely attracted by the bait that the scientists placed.

These deep sea creatures are known to swim in waters deeper than 7,000 metres.

The Japanese institution narrowly beat out efforts by a Chinese academy earlier this year.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences had in April filmed a fish at a depth of 8,152 meters in the same trench.

According to scientists, it is unlikely that any fish can survive in the oceans at a depth beyond 8,200 metres.

No fish has ever been discovered beyond this point.

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