Ms. Connolly,
It looks like Mr. Littlefield has provided you with some good
information, but on the off chance you actually plan to use it on the
air, there is something I would like to add.
Apparently, there are some researchers who feel that the "flatfish"
observed by the crew of the Trieste, was actually a sea cucumber of the
family aspidochirotida. Sounds far-fetched, but these guys are not your
average sea cucumbers. They are roughly shaped like flatfish, having a
flattened, oval body, which might easily fool a stressed out sup-pilot
(can you imagine?). Also adding to the confusion is the fact that some
aspidochirote holothurians are known to swim along the bottom by
undulatory movements along their body margins; flatfish swim with a
slightly different technique, but do cruise along the bottom in the same
sort of way.
Good luck with your research.
Grant Law
Cressida Connolly wrote in message <6ue708$dd at net.bio.net>...
>>Hi,
>>I'm a reporter for the science radio show Earth & Sky. We answer
>listener's questions on air, and we like to get information from people
>actually working in the field. I am researching one such question:
>"What lives at the deepest part of the Ocean." I know that the
>Marianas Trench
>is the deepest part of the Ocean and that the Trieste visited depths
>approaching this in 1960. I have heard it said, but cannot confirm,
>that the Trieste photographed life at that depth.
>>Can anyone tell me, in addition to bacterial life, what, if anything,
>lives at the bottom of the Marianas Trench.
