Blobfish, also known as fathead sculpins, have the dubious title of the world’s ugliest fish. These foot long carnivores are not often seen by humans as they live in the lightless depths of the sea. But when brought up to the surface it’s clear how the ugly blobfish got its name. The fish is a pink mass of gelatinous flesh with beady black eyes.
As a denizen of the Pacific Ocean, blob fish are found in deep waters, primarily around North America, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. There are 11 described species of blobfish and all are members of the order Scorpaeniformes. That group includes aquarium favorites like lionfish and even the venomous stonefish, which are known to kill humans with their spines. Blobfish do have spines in their fins but are not known to be venomous.
- Common Names: Blobfish, Fathead Sculpin, Toadfish, Tadpole Sculpin
- Scientific Name: Psychrolutes sp.
- Origin: Deep sea regions of the Pacific Ocean
- Length: Up to 12 inches
- Diet: Carnivorous
- Aquarium Size: N/A
- Ease of Care: Impossible
Are Blobfish Real?
Blobfish have become internet favorites since 2013, when the British Science Association granted blob fish the title of The World’s Ugliest Animal. Memes abound with pictures of a goofy looking animal that couldn’t be real. Pokemon lovers think of Ditto straightaway, while more savvy internet users suspect Photoshop or an outright hoax.
Blobfish are real but they don’t deserve this level of online bullying. In their natural deep water habitat they are a rather ordinary looking fish.
Blobfish underwater show gray skin and normal proportions. Their one unusual characteristic is their head, which is larger than average to accommodate their wide jaws. They become a gelatinous pink mass when they are brought up to the surface.
Blobfish are a fish often discussed by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society to raise awareness about the needs of less well known species. Pandas, whales, tigers and other animals are considered “charismatic” endangered species. It’s easy to like a panda and want to learn more about them and donate to their cause.
Insects, blobfish, snakes, snails, and other animals are just as worthy of our time and vital to the planet. Sometimes even more so than a giraffe or eagle. Yet they receive far less attention, protection, and money since we don’t think they are cute.
Deep sea bottom trawling is the primary threat to blobfish, which have no known predators. Trawlers catch anything too slow to avoid them. Since blobfish have no commercial value they end up dying for no reason as trawler bycatch.
Where Do Blobfish Live?
Most species of blobfish are found in the lightless depths of the Pacific Ocean. Their cold, dark habitat begins at around 2,000 feet underwater and extends down to 3,900 feet. At these depths the water temperature is a frigid 39℉. Worse, the surrounding water pressure exerts a force that is 60 to 120 times greater than what you’d experience at sea level.
The most skilled human freedivers reach depths of around 1,000 feet but have to return to the surface right away. Twice this depth would be fatal to us yet living blobfish feel right at home. That much water pressure would cause our gas-filled lungs to collapse. Nitrogen gas also starts to get forced into our blood at an accelerated rate, causing nitrogen narcosis, also known as the bends.
What makes blobfish ugly is a smart adaptation to make use of such extreme water pressure. Most fish use a gas-filled swim bladder to maintain neutral buoyancy. Marine sharks and other cartilaginous fish are an exception; they use an oil-filled liver instead.
Blobfish have bodies made of a fat and water-rich tissue that has a consistency like thick jelly. Their bodies have little in the way of muscle mass. Blobfish are able to float because their entire body is not very dense. They end up being little less buoyant than the surrounding water. So they float with no muscular effort or the need to maintain a balance of swim bladder gasses.
A live blobfish in natural habitat has little need to be fast, however. Larger predators are not so common at these depths. And the food that blobfish eat does not move fast enough to need powerful swimming muscles.
Why Do Blobfish Look Like That?
Living blobfish are well adapted to their deep sea habitat. And it’s these same adaptations that cause them to become ugly pink blobs when brought to the surface.
The gelatinous flesh of blobfish resists all that water pressure but it has little ability to resist gas pressure from within. Like humans, deep sea fish will also get the bends when they come to the surface too fast. Gases in their flesh, blood, and organs that were pressurized start to expand and bubble free as the water pressure goes down.
Think of a bottle of soda. With the cap on, the gases are kept in solution due to the internal pressure being maintained. Once you remove the cap, fizzy bubbles form as the pressure changes to match the outside air pressure.
Deep sea fishermen are familiar with this phenomenon. Fish brought up from hundreds of feet under the ocean will have eyes that stick out or bubbles that form under their skin. Even their stomachs may get pushed out of their mouths as the swim bladder swells and forces organs out of the way.
Blobfish are an extreme example of deep sea adaptations gone wrong. When brought to the surface the dissolved gases in their bodies puff out their soft flesh. Their blood vessels rupture as well. The end result is a sad, pink, humorous looking but very dead blob fish.
Blobfish are rated “Impossible” to keep by aquarists since their pressure and temperature requirements aren’t achievable in a home fish tank.
What Do Blobfish Eat?
Despite not being able to move fast, blubber fish are carnivorous. The deep sea is full of prey smaller and slower than they are. Some specimens trawled up in scientific surveys had snails and other gastropods in their stomachs. Deep sea crustaceans, echinoderms, and other invertebrates appear to be their main sources of food.
By focusing on food that is slow or doesn’t move at all, blobfish are able to conserve energy. A critical adaptation for their cold, nutrient poor habitat.
They are also ambush hunters who bury themselves in the mud on the ocean floor and lie in wait. Even fast moving crustaceans are caught by surprise as the blobfish snaps its mouth open. Since they don’t have teeth, blobfish swallow their prey whole.
Blobfish Reproduction
How blob fish breed was a mystery until 2000. Their spawning activity was first recorded at the Gorda Escarpment, which lies 120 miles off of the coast of Oregon and California.
Scientists discovered that blobfish are group spawners that form nests holding up to 100,000 eggs at a time. The parents watch over their eggs until they hatch, similar to cichlids, betta fish, and other caregiving aquarium fish.
Group spawning is a common survival strategy to prevent eggs and fry from being picked off by predators. How blobfish manage to find each other and coordinate their spawning in their lightless habitat where the water temperature never changes remains a mystery.
Conclusion
Blobfish in water are not so strange to look at. They are a dusky gray bottom dweller living in the sunless depths. They become the ugliest fish in the world when they are forced to the surface for the first – and last – time by humans. While blobfish are well adapted to life in the high pressure zone of the deep sea, shallow water is fatal for them.
FAQs
It’s not known if pink blobfish are edible. But even if they are, they would not be a tasty meal. Assuming you could prevent the fish from exploding when brought to the surface their flesh has little muscle tissue. The “meat” is a fat and water-rich substance that would feel and taste like fish jelly or thick lard.
Once the eggs hatch the fry have a long lifespan to look forward to. Blobfish are estimated to live for up to 130 years. Cold water deep sea fish tend to be long lived compared to tropical reef fish, which have faster metabolisms but shorter lifespans.
Blobfish have bones and a normal skeleton, complete with a spinal column, ribs, fin rays, and a thick skull. It is their musculature that is unusual since it’s been replaced by fatty tissue. That tissue looks normal when you see a blob fish alive in its high pressure habitat. But it bloats up if the fish is brought to the surface.
