Facts about Life in the Challenger Deep
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Polychaete worms have been collected from the Challenger Deep, showing that segmented invertebrates can survive at the hadal zone's crushing depths.
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Fish species such as the Mariana snailfish (Pseudoliparis swirei) represent the deepest-living vertebrates recorded in the Challenger Deep.
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Xenophyophores, giant single-celled organisms found in the Challenger Deep, are among the largest individual cells known to exist on Earth.
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The Challenger Deep hosts foraminifera, single-celled organisms with shells, demonstrating that eukaryotic life survives at the ocean's greatest depths.
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Bacteria living in the Challenger Deep are piezophiles, organisms adapted to function optimally under extreme pressure exceeding 1,000 atmospheres.
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Amphipods found in the Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, accumulate high concentrations of pollutants including PCBs despite the extreme remoteness of the habitat.