(CNN) – At 8,336 meters below the sea floor, a tiny snailfish has become the deepest fish scientists have ever photographed during an investigation into the abyss of the North Pacific Ocean.

Scientists from the University of Western Australia (UWA) and the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology on Sunday released images of snailfish captured last September by marine robots in deep trenches off Japan.

In addition to filming the snailfish at a deeper depth, the scientists physically captured two more specimens at 8,022 meters and set another record for the deepest catch.

Previously, the deepest snailfish ever seen was at 7,703 metres, in 2008, while scientists have never been able to catch fish below 8,000 metres.

“What’s important is that it shows how deep a particular type of fish can go in the ocean,” said marine biologist Alan Jamieson, founder of the Mindero-UWA Center for Deep Sea Research, who led the expedition.

These two fish were caught at a depth of just over 8,000 meters in the Japan Trench, in the North Pacific Ocean. (Credit: University of Western Australia)

Scientists film trenches in Japan as part of a 10-year study of the world’s deepest fish stocks. Snailfish are members of the family Liparidae, Jamieson explained, and while most live in shallow waters, others live at some of the deepest depths ever recorded.

During two months of the study last year, three “landers”—automated marine robots equipped with high-resolution cameras—were launched at different depths in three trenches: the Japan Trench, the Izu-Ogasawara Trench, and the Ryukyu Trench.

In the Izu-Ogasawara Trench, the deepest images showed snailfish frolicking peacefully alongside other crustaceans on the sea floor.

Jamieson classified the fish as small and said that the younger, deep-sea snailfish tend to stay as deep as possible to avoid being eaten by larger predators that swim at shallower depths.

Another video filmed between 7,500 and 8,200 meters in the same trench showed a colony of fish and crustaceans nibbling on bait attached to an underwater robot.

The photos of the two fish taken were identified as Pseudoliparis belyaevi– We offer a rare glimpse into the unique features that help these deep-sea species survive in an extreme environment.

They have small eyes, a transparent body, and lack a swim bladder, which helps other fish float, making them a favorite, according to Jamieson.

The professor noted that the Pacific Ocean is particularly conducive to fish activity because of its warm southerly current, which encourages marine creatures to venture farther away, while the abundant marine life provides a good food source for fish that feed on it at the bottom.

Scientists would like to learn more about creatures that live at great depths, Jamison said, but cost is the limit, adding that each lander costs $200,000 to assemble and operate.

“The challenges are that the technology was very expensive and the scientists didn’t have a lot of money,” he said.