2. Multimedia
  3. Image of the Day
  4. November 23, 2021

November 23, 2021: Prickelfish

During the 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas expedition, while diving on the western wall of the Mariana Trench at a site dubbed Hadal Wall to explore the transition between the abyssal and hadal zones and to document and characterize fauna on a diversity of habitat types, we encountered this fish, potentially a Malacosarcus sp., or prickelfish.

Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas. Download larger version (jpg, 271 KB).

During the 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas expedition, while diving on the western wall of the Mariana Trench at a site dubbed "Hadal Wall" to explore the transition between the abyssal and hadal zones and to document and characterize fauna on a diversity of habitat types, we encountered this fish, potentially a Malacosarcus sp., or prickelfish. Seen at a depth of nearly 5,900 meters (3.7 miles), the fish was a bit of a mystery for our science team as these prickelfish are usually found at shallower depths.