In the crevices of the Mariana Trench, a group of scientists recently discovered the deepest fish ever seen: a translucent angel-like snailfish.

Spearheaded by Shmidt Ocean Institute’s Hadal Ecosystem Studies (HADES) exhibition, researchers first spotted the as-yet-unnamed species at 8,143 meters below sea level while collecting the deepest rock samples ever obtained for research.

This exhibition marks the program’s fourteenth foray into the trench and took 30 days to complete. Using the research vessel Falkor, the group captured hundreds of hours of footage.

Team member Alan Jamieson of the University of Aberdeen notes, “It is unbelievably fragile, with large wing-like fins and a head resembling a cartoon dog.” He adds, “This really deep fish did not look like anything we had seen before, nor does it look like anything we know of.”

Co-chief scientist, Dr. Jeff Drazen, stressed the importance of combing every inch of the trench, despite the temptation to focus solely on the base of the ocean floor. “Many studies have rushed to the bottom of the trench, but from an ecological view that is very limited,” he explains in a statement. “”It’s like trying to understand a mountain ecosystem by only looking at its summit.”

The HADES project lends its shorthand to the name of the Greek underworld. Scientists refer to the places deeper than 6,000 meters as the hadal zone, a mysterious slice of the earth. The broader HADES program hopes to chart the ecosystem of this zone, specifically which species thrive and how they interact with such a unique environment.

During their excursion, researchers also captured footage of a supergiant amphipod, an exceedingly unlikely sight that was only first found just a few years prior.

Dr. Jamieson tells Discovery News that “knowing these creatures exist is one thing, but to watch them alive in their natural habitat interacting with other species is truly amazing, we have learned a great deal.”

Schmidt Ocean Institute’s executive, Wendy Schmidt, asserted that scope of HADES research will provide the foundation for future research.

“Rarely, do we get a full perspective of the ocean’s unique deep environments,” she says. “The questions that the scientists will be able to answer following this cruise will pave the way for a better understanding of the deep sea, which is not exempt from human impact.”

The Schmidt Institute claims that the rock samples they collected may lend greater understanding to the causes of tsunamis and deep-sea earthquakes.