Blobfish: The World’s Ugliest Animal
Blobfish have officially been titled “The World’s Ugliest Animal.” But that doesn’t mean they aren’t mysterious, magical beings of the depths.
In fact, blobfish are quite undiscovered. It is not known their lifespan, breeding habits, population, or every location they can be found. It is hard to study creatures who roam the deep, when you can’t bring them up to the surface without harm. What scientists do know is that humans are their biggest predator. Fishers commonly go deep sea fishing, scraping their nets along the bottom, and ensnare the poor pyschrolutes marcidus. Bringing them back to the surface, they lose all of the water support and become hapless blobs. Most sailors try to release them, since blobfish are not good for eating, but it is unlikely that the fish can get back to the deep before they die from a lack of pressure.
Pyschrolutes marcidus are known to inhabit the coast of Australia and New Zealand, deep down in ocean. There is so much pressure in the murky depths that their structure has to be boneless. Blobfish actually look like a normal fish in their natural habitat, but when people bring them up to the surface through deep sea fishing, they often become misshapen blobs. It is because of the lack of pressure against them at all times that they sag and transform into our ugliest fish. If you were sent down into their homeland depths, you would probably be crushed and deformed too. So next time you taunt and hate on a blobfish about being “ugly,” put yourself in their fins.
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