AUCKLAND - It may be just 28 centimetres long, but a crustacean found deep in the Kermadec Trench north of New Zealand is a ``supergiant''.
An expedition by scientists from the University of Aberdeen and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research found the supergiant amphipod, which dwarfs the standard two to three centimetre deep-sea amphipod and the slightly larger ``giant''.
The team was searching for the deep-sea snailfish, which had not been captured since the 1950s.
Using a camera system and a large trap at depths of 6900 to 9900 metres, they found the snailfish, but were shocked to also find the supergiant amphipod.
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