Why is this animal unusual?
The blobfish has almost no muscle and very soft bones. Instead of a swim bladder (the gas-filled balloon most fish use to float), its body is a jelly slightly lighter than water. So it just hovers above the seabed and lets dinner come to it. Laziness, perfected.
Why does it look like that?
Because we ruined it. At 1,000 metres the pressure is about 100 times higher than at the surface, and that pressure holds the blobfish’s jelly body in a normal fish shape. Haul it up in a net and it decompresses, sags and turns into the saggy pink face the internet fell in love with.
Strangest biological feature
Its flesh. It’s a gelatinous goo that is less dense than water, which lets the blobfish float without burning energy on swimming. In the deep sea, where food is scarce, not moving is a survival strategy.
Why is it strange?
It’s famous for a look it doesn’t even have. Almost every blobfish photo you’ve seen shows a dead, decompressed animal. Judging it by that is like judging you by a passport photo taken mid-sneeze.
Interesting behavioral facts
Blobfish are ambush drifters: they barely move and swallow whatever edible floats past. Close relatives have been filmed sitting on big clutches of eggs on the seafloor, so scientists suspect blobfish guard their nests too.
Records held
In 2013 the blobfish was voted the World’s Ugliest Animal and became the mascot of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society. The most famous individual, nicknamed Mr Blobby, was caught near New Zealand in 2003 and now sits in a jar at the Australian Museum. Awkward detail: he’s technically a close cousin, Psychrolutes microporos.
