To the baby boomers, a generation once young and idealistic and which felt largely unappreciated, the baby harp seal and its huge pleading eyes symbolized a certain level of ecological awareness. With the aging of those innocents, the blobfish—inert, indolent, in a state of perpetual maritime melancholy—may be the new face of our relationship with nature, the planet, the future.

McGrouther thinks the honor is undeserved. “That was a sacrilege, really unfair,” he says. “I used to have an ugly dog named Florence, a mongrelly-looking thing. She was blind and had lost most of her hair and her mind, though never her appetite. Mr. Blobby is far more attractive than Florence.” The stereotype ‘deformed’ blobfish. Photo courtesy of James Joel. 1 Blobfish Facts Overview Habitat:These studies hope to uncover more insights into the evolutionary relationship of these species and how the adaptations that help them survive in their ecosystem were developed. The photo below is thought to be a Western Blobfish, photographed by an remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) at a depth of approx. 1220 m, 70km off Barrow Island, North West Shelf, Western Australia. But when it comes to Mr Blobby, there’s still a lot we don’t know. The specimen looks similar to Psychrolutes microporos , a species that’s part of the fathead sculpin family. But sculpin specimens are rare, and we don’t have enough to compare and contrast physical features and make a definitive identification. Spesies Psychrolutes microporos (serta spesies terdekat Psychrolutes marcidustinggal di perairan di seputar antara Australia dan Selandia Baru, dengan kedalaman lebih dari 500 meter.

It lives in the abyssal or bathyal zones of the ocean, typically at depths of about 2,000 to 4,000 feet (600–1,200 meters) or even deeper. However, thanks to more recent advances in deep-sea exploration technology, scientists are now exploring and documenting the deep-sea environment more comprehensively to understand the blobfish and other deep-sea species. This unique adaptation makes it possible for the fish to float just above the seafloor without collapsing. Behavior and Social Structure However, you can also upload your own templates or start from scratch with empty templates. How to make a meme This unique body structure makes it possible to achieve a neutral buoyancy in the deep-sea environment instead of relying on swim bladders or air sacs, which tend to be unstable in high-pressure environments.However, the blobfish’s appearance is probably one of the most notable cases of mistaken identities in the animal kingdom. At this depth comparatively, human organs would be crushed under the sheer weight of pressure. 5. The blobfish has no real skeleton, and little muscles. We don’t know how old Mr Blobby is, or whether Mr Blobby is in fact Mrs Blobby. Determining sex would require a dissection, and Parkinson says she’s “pretty sure no one’s going to dissect the world’s most famous fish.” The Ugly Animal Preservation Society asks why handsome, zoo display-worthy animals get the lion’s share of publicity, research, protective legislation, and public and private financial support. “People have always shouted ‘Save the Whale,’” says biologist Simon Watt, the organization’s president, “but until now no one has stood up for gob-faced squid or the hundreds of species that go extinct every day.”

Unlike other fish species, the blobfish is not edible because it has an extremely acidic flesh and a gelatinous body. But based on the behavior of other deep-sea animals, we can assume that the blobfish doesn’t need such elaborate displays to mate.

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At deep-sea, they look like a typical bony fish. This pressured environment provides their gelatinous body mass with structural shape. However, it is believed that the fathead sculpins, including the blobfish, share a common ancestor with other sculpin species, including those found in shallower waters. Physical Characteristics The peculiar appearance of the blobfish | Image via NOAA/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Mr. B got entangled in social media the same way he got snagged in a research net: by accident. In 2010, the blobfish was showcased on “The Gruen Transfer,” a popular Australian TV show about the advertising industry. In a segment that judged the best creative treatment for hard-sells, two agencies were challenged to fashion campaigns around “saving the blobfish.” Which is how the extinction rumor got started.

Contrary to popular opinion, this fish isn’t really as ugly as commonly portrayed. Gage Beasley’s In-Demand Plush Toys The flesh of the blobfish is primarily a gelatinous mass with very fine, soft bones, which allows the fish to survive at high pressure and float above the sea floor at extreme depths, without expending much energy. 6. They are related to the Blob Sculpin (Psychrolutes phrictus) species.It preys on crustaceans, mollusks, and other small marine animals that drop from the surface into its habitat.