A Curious Collection of Peculiar Creatures

This soft, droopy-faced fish has evolved to survive under very strong water pressure, which is why it looks a little like a blob. It doesn’t have much need for muscles or bones, since the depths where it lives can be 120 times the pressure at sea level. Even though the blobfish looks odd to us, it’s perfectly adapted to its environment. It weighs around 4 pounds (2 kg) and can reach around 1 foot (30 cm) in length.

The blobfish lives in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans, at depths two and a half times deeper than most submarines can reach! The first specimen was found off the coast of New Zealand in 2003 by a scientific research team of Australians and New Zealanders. It was discovered 4,265 feet (1,300 m) beneath the surface.

Since they must save their minimal energy for daily tasks, the blobfish probably feeds on other slow-moving prey, such as sea snails, slugs, urchins, and mollusks.

This fish is part of the Psychrolutidae family, which also includes the toadfish.

The blobfish was discovered only recently, and scientists know very little about it. Given the environment it lives in, it probably has few predators and threats. Humans pose the greatest risk to the blobfish, because of deep-sea trawling nets as well as climate change, which causes shifts in the oceans’ temperature.

Fun Facts

Blobfish can live an incredibly long time—as long as 130 years! This could be because deep-sea creatures tend to age very slowly, and because of their lack of predators.
The first specimen ever found was given to the Australian Museum, where it’s known as “Mr. Blobby” and is now preserved and on display for educational purposes.
Like the ocean sunfish—but unlike most other fish—blobfish don’t have a swim bladder to help them float. Instead, they rely on their jelly-like flesh for buoyancy.
In 2013, the blobfish was voted the world’s ugliest animal by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society.