Scientists just found three never-before-seen fish species lurking in the pitch-black depths over 10,000 feet below the Pacific Ocean's surface. 

Rahul Somvanshi

These mysterious creatures aren't nightmare fuel – they're actually "pretty adorable" with what researchers describe as "a lovely little smile on their face."

Photo Source: Pixabay (Pexels)

Meet the pink "bumpy snailfish" with its distinctive textured skin, discovered at depths equivalent to stacking 30 Empire State Buildings underwater.

Photo Source: Pixabay (Pexels)

The team also discovered the fully black "dark snailfish" and elongated "sleek snailfish" at crushing depths where water pressure would flatten a human instantly.

Photo Source: MBARI (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

How do these fish survive conditions colder than your refrigerator with thousands of pounds of pressure crushing down on them?

Photo Source: FreeRange  (CC0)

Many snailfish have evolved a special suction disk on their belly that helps them grip the seafloor or even hitch rides on deep-sea crabs.

Photo Source: Dimitris Siskopoulos (CC BY 2.0)

Despite being part of a family with over 400 species, researchers have only one confirmed sighting of the bumpy snailfish – how many more remain hidden?

Photo Source: Carol M Highsmith

Advanced technology made this discovery possible – scientists personally visit these crushing depths in the Alvin submersible or send robots where humans can't survive.

Photo Source: Sai Pixels (Pexels)

These findings highlight how little we know about Earth's largest habitat – our deep oceans – where most of our planet's animals actually live.

Photo Source: Mark Yokoyama (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Researchers are now racing to map where these new species live and understand how they've adapted to one of Earth's most extreme environments.

Photo Source: U.S. NAVY (CC0)

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