'Supergiant' amphipods found in NZ waters

3 Feb 2012, 9:51 am   -   Source: AAP
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The expedition team hold the

The expedition team hold the "supergiant" amphipod found in New Zealand waters. (TVNZ)

An expedition to the Kermadec Trench found supergiant amphipods, roughly 10 to 14 times the size of the normal species of crustacean.

It may be just 28cm long, but a crustacean found deep in the Kermadec Trench north of New Zealand is a "supergiant".

An expedition by scientists from the University of Aberdeen and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) found the rare supergiant amphipod, which dwarf the standard 2-3cm deep sea amphipod and the slightly larger "giant".

The team was on a mission to recover the deep sea snailfish, which had not been captured since the early 1950s.

Using a camera system and a large trap at depths of 6900m to 9900m, they found the snailfish they were looking for, but were shocked to find the supergiant amphipod among hundreds of "normal" amphipods.

"At the moment the traps came on deck we were elated at the sight of the snailfish as we have been after these fish for years," team leader Alan Jamieson from the University of Aberdeen said.

"However, seconds later I stopped and thought 'what on earth is that?' whilst catching a glimpse of an amphipod far bigger than I ever thought possible."

The supergiants had not been spotted in two previous visits to the trench and none could be seen a few days later, Dr Jamieson said.

The supergiants found were both the biggest specimen ever caught and the deepest they had been found.

"It just goes to show that the more you look, the more you find," Ashley Rowden from NIWA in Wellington said.

"For such a large and conspicuous animal to go unnoticed for so long is just testament to how little we know about life in New Zealand's most deep and unique habitat."

Supergiant amphipods have been found once before - near Hawaii in the 1980s - and the researchers now want to establish whether the Kermadec amphipods are the same species.

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