Australian Sculpin

The blobfish is a deep sea fish of the family Psychrolutidae. It inhabits waters at depths of 600-1,200 m (2,000-3,900 ft) off the coasts of mainland Australia, from southern Queensland to southern Australia and Western Australia and Tasmania, as well as the waters of New Zealand (1). It is usually shorter than 30 cm. It lives at depths where the pressure is several dozen times higher than at sea level, which would likely make gas bladders inefficient to maintain buoyancy (1). Instead, its flesh is primarily a gelatinous mass with a density slightly less than water; this lets the fish float above the sea floor without expending energy on swimming. The low density flesh changes the blobfish's shape when it is out of water (5). Its relative lack of muscle is not a disadvantage as it primarily swallows edible matter that floats in front of it such as deep-ocean crustaceans.[2] The blobfish is often caught as bycatch in bottom trawling nets. Scientists fear that this could endanger the blobfish (3,4). The musician and author Michael Hearst featured "Blobfish" on his 2012 album Songs For Unusual Creatures (6) and created a blobfish episode for his PBS Digital series (7). In September 2013 the blobfish was voted the "World's Ugliest Animal", based on photographs of decompressed specimens, and adopted as the mascot of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society, in an initiative "dedicated to raising the profile of some of Mother Nature’s more aesthetically challenged children" (8,9).

The blobfish was discovered in 2012 in a oceanic census that discovered 6,000 new marine species. There is a lot we do not know about the blobfish such as:

1. How exactly does it reproduce?

2. Does it have any social structure?

3. How does it feed itself?

This is not surprising considering that the blobfish was discovered in 2012, only 2y ago.

A temperate species (Ref. 7300) recorded from the continental slope (Ref. 9563, 75154). Benthic (Ref. 75154).

Blobfish may also refer to the related species Psychrolutes microporos.

Psychrolutes marcidus, the smooth-head blobfish, also known simply as blobfish, is a deep-sea fish of the family Psychrolutidae. It inhabits the deep waters off the coasts of mainland Australia and Tasmania, as well as the waters of New Zealand.

Blobfish are typically shorter than 30 cm (12 in). They live at depths between 600 and 1,200 m (2,000 and 3,900 ft), where the pressure is 60 to 120 times greater than that at sea level, which would likely make gas bladders inefficient for maintaining buoyancy. Instead, the flesh of the blobfish is primarily a gelatinous mass with a density slightly less than that of water; this allows the fish to float above the sea floor without expending energy on swimming. The blobfish has a relative lack of muscle, but this is not a disadvantage, as its main food source is edible matter that floats in front of it, such as deep-ocean crustaceans.

Blobfish are often caught as bycatch in bottom trawling nets. It was first discovered around the Norfolk and Lord Howe islands, which are located between Australia and New Zealand. The discovery was made by a team of two dozen scientist during their exploration of submarine habitats. The team towed gear on the ocean floor in order to net and study different species. Among the new species the caught was Psychrolutes marcidus.

The popular impression of the blobfish as bulbous and gelatinous is partially an artifact of the decompression damage done to specimens when they are brought to the surface from the extreme depths in which they live. In their natural environment, blobfish appear more typical for their superclass Osteichthyes (bony fish).

Artist's representation of two blobfish in situ