The Blob of the Deep
Hardly the stuff of scary movies. No teeth.When you look at a blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus) it’s pretty hard to tell if it’s a real animal or something made out of blancmange.
Its eyes, mouth and nose make it look like a grumpy cartoon character, and along with its name, you can see why it is one of the world’s weirdest animals. However, it’s unlikely that you’ll ever see one in its natural habitat as they live in such deep water off the coast of Australia that it is almost impossible for humans to dive there.
The pressure is so high where they live, between 600 and 1200 metres, that they are not able to have a fixed skeletal structure, which is why they appear so, well, 'blobby'. The fish are able to float because their jelly-type body density is a little bit less than water. This means the fish can bob above the ocean floor without having to waste energy swimming.
The animals basically eat anything edible that floats on by as it just gulps the food down. They definitely don’t spend the energy to go and look for food.
There isn’t a whole lot of information on blobfish as they were only discovered in 2003 by a deep sea expedition. They average about 14 inches in length and while they are definitely odd looking, they are harmless to humans. The fish are not listed on the IUCN red list as being endangered because they haven’t been evaluated as of yet although there is concern that several are killed each year by being caught up in fishing trawler nets.
Filed under:
