When a blobfish is taken out of water, decompression can make it expand and cause its skin to relax, distorting its features and giving it that characteristic big nose. Blobfish have a variety of adaptations to live in high-pressure habitats, including a squishy body, with soft bones and very little muscle. Down there, the pressure can be more than 100 times what the atmospheric pressure you feel right now.

Why do blobfish look like that?īlobfish species live in some of the deepest pockets of the ocean, at depths between 600 and 1,200m. The species only looks like a 1980s dessert when removed from its natural environment and brought to the surface. The flabby appearance of this deep-sea fish celebrated in internet culture is, however, misleading. A member of the Psychrolutidae family, it is sometimes referred to as a sculpin or (for obvious reasons) fathead. What is a blobfish?īefore finding fame as an internet meme, the blobfish was a scientific curiosity. The 2003 specimen was nicknamed Mr Blobby, after the British TV character. Droopy, slimy and very easy to anthropomorphise, the fish was later named the ugliest animal in the world in a poll set up by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society, a conservation group that argues it's not just the cute critters that deserve our protection. Its gelatinous appearance made it a gift to early internet culture. This is the famous image you see everywhere, including at the top of this page. It was another decade before the fish was formally described and given its scientific name.Īnd even now, there are large gaps in our understanding of this enigmatic sea creature, despite a number of other samples being found in trawler nets.ĭespite the unknowns, the blobfish found widespread notoriety after another specimen was photographed in 2003. microporos was found by a research vessel off the coast of New Zealand in 1983. However, the term 'blobfish' is sometimes used more broadly to describe other members of the Psychrolutidae family such as P. The scientific name of the fish in the famous blobfish photo is Psychrolutes microporos, from a family of fish called Psychrolutidae. It may have a face that’s hard to forget, but what do we actually know about the blobfish? What's the real reason it looks so glum? And what can it teach us about conservation or the secretive habitat in which it lives? Blobfish scientific name The blobfish: it's an internet sensation from the deep sea with a flabby face that’s equal parts horrifying and hilarious.įamous for having ugly headshots, this lazy bottom-feeder is relatively new to science but has cast a spell over human beings in the digital age and is already immortalised in memes, soft toys and emojis. Blobfish: Facts about the world's ugliest animal

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