Scientific name: Psychrolutes marcidus
In 2013, the blobfish was deemed the world’s ugliest animal. The run-off was led by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society.
A quick glance at the blobfish would explain why. It looks like a bunch of melted wax, with its face corresponding with that of a cranky older man. They have pitch dark eyes on their cheeks – or rather on the sides of their faces. They also have punch drunk noses.
But what is a blobfish?
The blobfish is a foot-long pink deep-sea fish which inhabits waters just above the seabed at depths of 600 to 1,200 meters (2,000 to 3,900 feet), off the coasts of mainland Australia and New Zealand. It has soft bones and few muscles and lacks a swim bladder, the gas-filled internal organ that allows most bony fish to control their ability to stay afloat in water. Instead, its body is jelly-like, with a density slightly lower than the water in which it lives. Thanks to that, it floats slightly above the floor of the ocean, where it waits for small crustaceans and other edible matter to pass by so it can suck them up for food.
Females are capable of laying thousands of tiny pink eggs. They lay this multitude of eggs in the seabed where they are hidden from the reach of other animals. Both males and females can sit on the laid eggs to keep them safe from predators.
Finally, It’s important to note that a blobfish only has that melted appearance when it is out of the water. And this is simply due to these strange adaptations to its preferred waters.
For more information:
www.sciencefocus.com/nature/the-blobfish-a-bloated-guide-...
