The PERISCOP is a pressurized recovery device designed for retrieving deep-sea marine life at depths exceeding 2,000 metres. The device was designed by Bruce Shillito and Gerard Hamel at the

Universite Pierre et Marie Curie Pierre and Marie Curie University ( , UPMC), also known as Paris VI, was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussieu Campus in the Latin Quarter of the 5th arrondi ...

. The name is an

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

for the French phrase ''Projet d’Enceinte de Remontée Isobare Servant la Capture d’Organismes Profonds'' ("Enclosure project for isobaric ascent serving to capture deep organisms").

History

The PERISCOP is a unique pressurized recovery devices that contains three chambers – one for capture, one for recovery under exterior pressure, and one for transfer to the laboratory while maintaining pressure. Previous recovery devices used one chamber for all purposes. An arm designed to capture samples by force of suction is attached to the device. During ascent, pressure is maintained within the chamber by use of pressurized water. Upon surfacing, samples can be observed, filmed, and/or photographed through transparent view ports in the device. Due to fluctuations in atmospheric pressure and temperature recorded pressures during ascent and at the surface may ranged from 74%-111% of the natural pressure at sea depth. The device set a record for the deepest live-fish capture under pressure when it captured a ''

Pachycara ''Pachycara'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the Family (biology), family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. The fishes in this genus are found in the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean, Southern and Pacific ...

'' at 2,300 m. The previous record was 1,400 m. The capture was the first to be performed at a

hydrothermal vent Hydrothermal vents are fissures on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hot ...

. The device has also recovered several shrimp species ('' Mirocaris fortunata'', '' Chorocaris chacei'', and ''

Rimicaris exoculata ''Rimicaris exoculata'', commonly known as the 'blind shrimp', is a species of shrimp. It thrives on active hydrothermal edifices at deep-sea vents of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This species belongs to the Alvinocarididae family of shrimp, named a ...

'') at vent fields Lucky Strike and Rainbow.

References

{{reflist Deep sea fish Marine organisms Oceanography Research methods