This allows them to preserve energy, which is key to their survival. Dietīut how does the blobfish keep itself alive in a dark, dangerous habitat where food is scarce? These animals are lie-in-wait predators, meaning they sit at the bottom of the ocean and eat anything that passes by, such as crustaceans, brittle stars, anemone, and carrion. The thick layer of jelly-like flesh under their skin makes blobfish slightly less dense than water and allows them to bob along the seabed. Instead, the animal’s soft body has a high water and fat content, which helps them withstand the high pressure. If they did, it would implode due to the extreme pressure. Unlike many other fish, which use a gas-filled sac to control buoyancy, blobfish don’t have a swim bladder. The blobfish’s fascinating physiology is key to the animal’s survival in these extreme conditions. At this depth, the lungs and other air-filled spaces in the human body would collapse. At around 3,280 feet, the pressure is a hundred times stronger than on land. The human eardrum can rupture at just seven feet deep. The deeper the water, the more pressure there is from the accumulated weight of the water above. And because photosynthesis cannot take place without light, there’s also a lack of food for animals to eat. Without sunlight to heat the water, the average temperature at this depth is 39☏. Below 656 feet, the light quickly begins to fade-and none remains below about 3,280 feet. Much of the ocean’s depths remain a mystery to scientists-we have better maps of Mars than of the ocean floor. Those that have adapted to these murky and mysterious depths include creatures such as the giant squid, anglerfish, and bioluminescent lanternfish. Once you descend into the deep ocean, the harsh conditions make it difficult for animals to survive. Most known marine species live in the surface layer of the ocean- above around 650 feet-where there is still light. Habitatīlobfish are usually found in dark, cold habitats deep at the bottom of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, between 1,970 and 3,940 feet deep. 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. This famous image of a blobfish earned it the title of the world’s ugliest endangered animal-but this flabby appearance is only how the fish looks when pulled up from its highly pressurized deep-sea habitat.īecause they live at such incredible depths, these fascinating fish are hard to study in their natural environment. That’s why blobfish collapse into a squishy mush when they are pulled up to the surface. They don’t have strong bones or thick muscle-instead, they rely on the water pressure to hold their shape together. Rather than scales, they have loose, flabby skin. Appearanceīlobfish look almost unrecognizable underwater: These tadpole-shaped fish have bulbous heads, large jaws, tapered tails, and feathery pectoral fins. Here’s what you need to know about these deep-sea creatures. In its natural habitat-thousands of feet underwater-the misunderstood blobfish looks like a normal fish. However, according to scientist Richard Arnott, this viral image of the blobfish is nothing more than “ a vast bullying campaign.” The fish only looks like a miserable, pink lump when it has been torn from its home, and suffered devastating tissue damage due to the rapid depressurization as it was dragged to the surface. After being named the world’s ugliest animal in 2013, this hideous fish soared to fame-with memes, songs, soft toys, and even TV characters created in its honor. If you were asked to think of the ugliest creature you can imagine, you might picture the blobfish: a pale pink gelatinous blob with a droopy, downturned mouth and large, sagging nose.
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