Devil in the deep blue sea a rare sight

Phys.org: Video footage of a rare, protected fish in water almost twice the depth it is thought to inhabit has raised questions about how marine life is responding to climate change and how much we really know about the deep ocean.
Marine biologists from the University of Wollongong (UOW) have recorded the first verifiable recording of a rare, protected fish in water almost twice the depth it is thought to inhabit and two kilometres further down the continental shelf than previously recorded.
The finding of the eastern blue devil fish (Paraplesiops bleekeri) well outside its published range raises questions about how some fish species are responding to climate change as well as the need for scientists to work more closely with fishers and citizen scientists to corroborate or re-write what is known about fish that inhabit deep-water reefs.
Eastern blue devil fish are rare and endemic to coastal reefs along eastern Australia. Their bright colours and relatively small size (adults grow up to 40 centimetres long) make them attractive to the aquarium industry and as such they have been protected under New South Wales Fisheries Laws.
Using video cameras dropped on the ocean floor with bait attached – devices called baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS) – researchers from UOW, University of Sydney, UNSW and the NSW Department of Primary Industries have been able to survey habitats that are too deep to dive and in any weather conditions. They have the added bonus of being able to observe for hours at a time without human interference.
Ph.D. candidate Lachlan Fetterplace, from UOW’s School of Biological Sciences, said the rare sighting was part of footage that formed “failed” samples of what was supposed to be surveys of sandy ocean floor habitat in a 75-kilometre stretch of NSW coastline between Jervis Bay and Bawley Point.
The eastern blue devil fish was spotted at a depth of 51 metres and two kilometres further down the continental shelf slope than previously observed; well outside its published range of depths of less than 30 metres.
“We dropped the cameras onto what they thought to be a sandy bottom and instead found uncharted reef with overhangs and crevices,” Mr Fetterplace said.
“Normally this footage would be stored on hard-drives and left to gather dust at the back of a lab.