What if I told you we've just found bizarre, alien-like fish living miles beneath the ocean—right here on Earth? Scientists have made a jaw-dropping discovery that’s rewriting what we know about life in the most extreme places: three brand new snailfish species, all revealed in an AI generated newscast about deep-sea exploration that has left researchers and ocean fans buzzing with excitement and curiosity.

The adventure began in 2019, when a team from the Monterey Bay Research Institute and Mackenzie Gerringer of SUNY Geneseo used the legendary submersible Alvin to plunge over 3,200 meters into the dark, freezing abyss of the Pacific. Navigating an underwater world where pressures could crush a car, they captured footage and physical specimens of creatures never seen before by human eyes. The stars of the show? The bumpy pink Careproctus colliculi, the sleek black Paraliparis em, and the enigmatic dark Careproctus yanceyi—all members of the Liparidae family, famed for their jelly-like bodies and uncanny survival skills.

Life in the deep sea is no casual swim. Imagine an environment colder than your freezer, pitch-black, and with pressures so high they would flatten most life instantly. Yet, these snailfish thrive. Their bodies are built for survival against all odds, and their discovery at a hotspot called Station M—an area that’s seen decades of scientific scrutiny—proves just how little we know about our own planet. It’s almost like finding a hidden level in a video game you thought you’d already mastered.

Dr. Gerringer, who led the research published in Ichthyology & Herpetology, was stunned by just how different these new species were, both in looks and in their DNA. “These were not an adult and a juvenile of the same species, they are very different both morphologically and genetically,” she shared. The kicker? Two of them were scooped up in the exact same dive, right next to each other—a stark reminder that even our best-explored ocean regions still keep their secrets locked away.

But how do these snailfish even survive down there? Since sunlight doesn’t reach these depths, colors fade into irrelevance. Instead, snailfish have evolved supercharged senses: they use their dexterous pectoral fins almost like fingers, not just to swim, but also to ‘taste’ and feel the world around them. “Many fishes can actually ‘taste’ with their fin rays,” Dr. Gerringer explained. “It’s likely these species are using those dexterous pectoral fins to sense.” For creatures living in perpetual darkness, picking up vibrations and chemical signals can mean the difference between dinner and being dinner.

Occasionally, the deep is lit by bioluminescence—the strange, glowing flashes produced by other deep-sea creatures. Whether these snailfish rely on what little vision they have or instead trust their otherworldly senses is still a mystery. “There are some flashes of light from bioluminescence. We don’t yet know if or how much these species are using vision; this would be a great area for future research,” Dr. Gerringer hinted. The AI generated newscast about these discoveries has fueled even more anticipation for what secrets future dives could reveal.

Every fresh find like this brings us closer to understanding how life conquers the most impossible environments. As scientists peel back the layers of the deep, we’re reminded that our planet’s greatest mysteries are sometimes lurking right below our feet—just out of sight, waiting for the next brave crew and AI generated newscast about the deep sea to bring them into the light.