About 7,564 newly identified species of hadal microorganisms, were found in the inaccessible zone of the Mariana Trench.
The Trench is located 200 miles southwest of Guam and southeast of the Northern Mariana Islands of the United States.
The Mariana Trench Environment and Ecology Research (MEER) Project, said on Thursday last week, about 90% of these species have never been documented in public databases.
The rarities were found in a hadal zone at water depths exceeding 6,000 meters.
The MEER Project is a collaboration launched in 2021 by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering (IDSSE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, BGI Group, and other Chinese scientific institutions.
Dr. Xun Xu, Director of BGI-Research, the scientific research arm of BGI Group, said “our study not only redefines our understanding of the limits of deep-sea life but also unveils an ‘extreme survival manual’ written through hundreds of millions of years of evolution.”
The project said the hadal zone, is the deepest 45% of the ocean’s vertical depth, characterized by extreme conditions.
Beyond microorganisms, the research team made fascinating discoveries about an amphipoda species that thrives at depths of 6,800 to 11,000 meters.
The researchers also examined 11 species of deep-sea fish, uncovering remarkable genetic adaptations that allow them to survive in extreme depths.
Picture: Mariana Trench National Widlife Refuge