Abyssobrotula galatheae

Abyssobrotula galatheae
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Ophidiiformes
Family: Ophidiidae
Genus: Abyssobrotula
Species:
A. galatheae
Binomial name
Abyssobrotula galatheae
J. G. Nielsen, 1977

Abyssobrotula galatheae is a species of cusk eel in the family Ophidiidae. It is the deepest-living fish known; one specimen, trawled from a depth of 8,370 m (27,460 ft) in the Puerto Rico Trench in 1970, holds the record for the deepest fish ever captured. Although generally recognized, some have suggested that the record-breaking individual might have been caught with a non-closing net (a net that is open on the way up and down into the deep) and therefore perhaps caught shallower.

The first examples of this fish were misidentified by Staiger as Bassogigas profundissimus, before being described as a new species by Jørgen G. Nielsen in 1977. The species name refers to the research ship HDMS Galathea, which captured the first specimens during the second Galathea expedition.