Blobfish are often made fun of for their silly looks and or confusing personality, but they really are complex animals! Blobfish are more than their silly faces, so let’s learn more about them!

Character and Appearance:

Blobfish, otherwise known as Psychrolutes marcidus are a deep sea fish whom are often mistaken for their looks. With nine different species, blobfish are deep-sea dwellers with a unique appearance, rounded heads, wide mouths, and slender, tapering tails. Their soft, feathery fins add to their odd look, and instead of scales, they’re covered in saggy, gelatinous skin. Lacking sturdy bones and strong muscles, blobfish rely on the intense pressure of the deep ocean to maintain their form. When brought to the surface, where that pressure vanishes, their bodies lose shape and turn into a squishy, blobby mess hence the name. Many people often make fun of them in this state, they were even named to be the world’s ugliest animal in 2023, but that’s an unfair title considering that they looked like that due to depressurization. According to National Geographic “much of what scientists have learned about them comes from dead blobfish pulled up to the surface—hence why their above-water form is more widely recognized.”

Habitat + Diet

​Blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus) are deep-sea fish native to the waters surrounding Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. They inhabit the ocean floor at depths ranging from 2,000 to 4,000 feet (approximately 600 to 1,200 meters), where the water pressure is 60 to 120 times greater than at sea level. In other words, ​blobfish live near the bottom of the ocean, where it's very cold and almost completely dark. They float just above the seafloor and eat whatever small animals drift by, like crabs and shellfish. Their bodies are jelly-like, which helps them stay afloat without using much energy since there's not a lot of food down there. They will eat anything they can find down there like crustaceans, anemone, or brittlestars, anything to survive. It's important to note that blobfish populations face threats from deep-sea trawling, which can disrupt their habitats and lead to accidental captures. Conservation efforts are essential to protect these unique creatures and their environment!!

Physiology: How do they survive down there?

Blobfish have soft, jelly-like bodies with very little muscle and no swim bladder, which most fish use to float. Instead, their flesh is slightly less dense than water, so they can gently drift just above the ocean floor without sinking or needing to swim much. They don’t have strong bones because the high pressure deep in the ocean naturally holds their shape together. But when they’re brought to the surface, where the pressure is much lower, their bodies lose structure and collapse into the squishy, “blobby” look they’re known for.

No Longer Bullied

While they were named “Ugliest Animal in the World” in 2013, they are receiving their flowers now. Just last month, New Zealand recognized the animal as their “Fish of the Year”, as they are most commonly found there. The blobfish received 1,286 votes, finishing 300 votes ahead of the orange roughy, even though the orange roughy was supported by major organizations like Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, and the Environmental Law Initiative. All in all, the fish has gone through alot, so it’s nice to see them be recognized for what they really are. What’s your favorite fish?