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> Likewise, their approach to food - they are suction feeders and consume tiny crustaceans, of which there are many in trenches. I remember James Cameron’s div
by dmix 4y ago
> Likewise, their approach to food - they are suction feeders and consume tiny crustaceans, of which there are many in trenches.
I remember James Cameron’s dive and the main life pictured was crustaceans. I’ve also read they are a significant amount of life in underground aquifers [1] was crustaceans, which also had blind reptiles which also fed on crustaceans and had transparent skin similar to those snailfish. I’m curious what makes them so unique to flourish in these sorts of places.
[1] https://www.americanscientist.org/article/creatures-of-the-deep-karst https://www.americanscientist.org/article/creatures-of-the-d...
- bobthepanda 4y agoI would imagine it is the extreme pressure. At that kind of depth you either need a really strong body and small surface area (tiny crustacean) or a gelatinous body where that doesn’t matter (snailfish). Those are probably disadvantageous at lower pressure environments. (I’m curious how molting would work at high pressures though, since the crustacean would lose its shell.) as far as blindness, there’s not really visible sunlight reaching there, so sight probably doesn’t do a lot, and eyeballs are squishy.
- Retric 4y agoCreatures living in the deep simply equalize their internal and external pressures and don’t feel the pressure as some kind of weight they need to withstand. This is why when you bring them to the surface quickly they die from the sudden decrease in pressure. As to eyes bioluminescence is common in the deep and nothing would bother if nobody had eyes.
- noduerme 4y agoI'm sort of curious how they don't simply explode when you bring them to the surface.
- oesexe 4y agoI have caught quite a few red fish in Greenland. They ‘only’ live a hundred meters down, but sure they kinda explode when surface. Eyes pop out, and their swim bladder pops out of their mouth. If they get unhooked on the way up, they will also surface themselves.
- undersuit 4y agoI've only been sea fishing twice off the coast of NC on a boat, but I don't remember reeling in hundreds of meters of line... How long does that take?
- Retric 4y agoWater is largely incompressible decreasing in volume by 1.8% at the sea floor a 4km under the ocean, so returning to the surface doesn’t cause creatures to explode dramatically.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Properties_of_water#Compressibility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Properties_of_water#Compressib... The problem is gasses both dissolved in tissues which causes cellular scale damage (Aka the bends) and internal pockets of air such as in swim bladders which can rupture.
- MBCook 4y agoAnother commenter posted a link to a 2014 article that explains how the fish can survive so deep. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26423203 https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26423203 It says that fish use the TMAO protein to protect themselves from pressure. But other organisms use a combination of multiple proteins and that apparently lets them survive higher pressures. So it seems the fish would basically need to re-evolve how to handle pressure, but in a different way, to be able to go deeper.
- flangola7 4y agoIf they're born and live at that depth isn't the pressure equalized inside and outside of them?
- undersuit 4y agoTemperature and pressure are very related. Fish that live at 8400 meters are dealing with pressures/temperatures/energies that need additional attention. The biological processes of fish start failing at the pressures of 8500 meters or whatever, doesn't matter if the fish has the same internal and external pressure, the pressure has impeded the effect of some protein.
- refurb 4y agoIt would be, but chemistry changes with pressure. So while there may not he mechanical stress on the fish, their proteins may not function correctly at high pressure.