January 30, 2010

Behold: The Blobfish

There are certain fish that are named for their appearance: The swordfish, the hammerhead shark... and the blobfish.

These sad-looking, blobby fish live on the ocean floor around Australia. They usually just hang out and wait for a tasty morsel to float by, at which point, the blobfish opens its blobby mouth and feeds.

If this sounds like a good life, it was! But deep-sea fishermen around Australia have been pulling up so many blobfish in their nets, it's now an endangered species.

And that makes me as sad as a blobfish.

Update: Here is a photo of a blobfish in the water. More fish, less blob!

And the following Blobfish information is from WildFacts.com. (Click “Read more” to read more!)
The Blobfish lives off the coasts of Australia and Tasmania at depths between 2,000 to 4,000 feet. That’s deep! The pressure is so intense, normal fish can’t swim around at that depth.

Most fish have something called a swim bladder; it’s a chamber of gas that helps it stay at the right depth. And they also have fins and muscles to get around.

Guess what? The Blobfish doesn’t have EITHER of those things! That’s right, no swim bladder and no muscles! 

"What they do have though is a jelly-like flesh that has a lower density than water. This allows them to float just above the ocean floor… [and] it just sits there swallowing any food matter that floats by. This method works well for the blobfish as it expends very little energy.” 

27 comments:

  1. What> I dont believe it. it looks so sad

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  2. Hes slobberinggg <33

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    1. They are beautiful creatures. :D

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  3. I'm for sure these are real. I just know it! I even wrote a story on it and if they aren't then I'll be as sad as a blobfish.

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  4. I LOVE THE BLOBFISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  5. AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

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  6. I'm doin my eng speech on da blobfish!

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  7. May it get an "A" for its . . . blobbiness?

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  8. Blob fish are SO cute, I love them!

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  9. lol blobfish r so cute! i want one as a pet :)

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  10. blobfish är så coola men det är synd att dom ser ledsna ut

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  11. I want to kiss it on its blobby lips

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  12. love you blob fish !<333 you're gorg. foreverr !<33

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  13. OMG ME TOOO! :)

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  14. cover your eyes children

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  15. Cutest animal - aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

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No bad words, thanks!