Blobfish alive skin#

They are an unique and specialized deep-sea marine creature with a jellylike body, soft bones and few muscles, lacking a swim bladder, and distinctive flathead sculpin appearance shaped by its habitat, as it lives in some of the deepest pockets of the ocean floor and acts as a bottom feeder helping to regulate populations and maintain the cleanliness of the ocean floor. One of the parents guards the eggs, but scientists aren’t sure which one takes this duty.Blobfish do not bite humans as they lack teeth and have soft bones and no muscles. Females will lay thousands of eggs on the sea floor. Very little is known about the reproductive behaviors of blobfish because research is quite difficult. There are few predators in the deep sea, so these fish reproduce and grow quite slowly. Because they lack extensive muscle structure we know they are slow moving, and float near the ocean floor in search of food. What we do know is based mainly off of research conducted on specimens accidentally captured as bycatch. Their natural habitat at the ocean floor makes it difficult to conduct research.

Very little is known about the normal behavior of blobfish. If you could replicate their environment closely enough to keep them alive, it can be assumed their diet would be easy to replicate because it is so variable. Because of their body composition, you would have to be able to control the pressure to replicate their environment to keep them alive. These fish have never been kept alive outside of their natural habitat. No one has kept these fish in an aquarium setting, so it would be impossible to keep one as a pet. Domesticationīlobfish have not been domesticated in any way. Currently the IUCN Red List has not evaluated their populations and threats. Unfortunately, researchers are not sure what the extent of this impact will have on the overall population numbers. Animals that are incidentally caught in a fishery that is not intended to catch them are known as bycatch. The only time these fish interact with humans is when they are accidentally captured in commercial fisheries. They also feed on mollusks, crabs, sea urchins, and anything that they can catch. These particles are sometimes referred to as marine snow. Detritus floating down from the ocean’s surface provides nutrition, but can be incredibly invariable. If the can find it, and it fits in their mouth, they will eat it. Most of their distribution is determined by accidental captures in commercial fisheries using bottom-trawling nets. Scientists have not found them anywhere else in the world. They are found primarily off the coasts of Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania. There is little research on the complete distribution of this species. The pressure at this depth is approximately 80 times that of the surface. This depth is called the mesopelagic zone. For the most part, they remain close to the sea floor anywhere from 2,000 ft. These fish have a very specific habitat zone that they inhabit. These fish feed on virtually anything edible, including a variety of carrion drifting down from the surface, crabs, sea urchins, and more. By floating along near the ocean floor with minimal effort they can search for food without expending much energy. Non-Discerning – Thankfully for the blobfish, nature has given them exactly what they need to survive.This means that if you have any hope of survival, you must conserve as much energy as possible. In the deep sea, food is hard to come by. Energy Saving – Having the ability to float in place without having to “swim” can be extremely beneficial if you are trying to conserve energy.This allows them to float in place with minimal effort. Instead of using a swim bladder to maintain neutral buoyancy, blobfish have minimal bones and jelly-like tissues. Bladderless – Having pockets of air in your body is all fine and dandy when you live near the surface, but at the depths of the ocean floor, a swim bladder would burst.

Swim bladders allow them to achieve neutral buoyancy in the water by altering the amount of air within, so they can keep from sinking or floating.

Swim Bladder – Most species of bony fish have pockets of air in their bodies called swim bladders.

What’s more intriguing than one of the ugliest creatures in the sea? At the ocean’s surface, blobfish are undoubtedly a sight to behold, but what else makes these creatures unique? Find out below.

Blobfish alive skin#

Their pallor pink colored skin also gives them a particularly eerie appearance. The gelatin-like skin and body is an adaptation that allows these creatures to maintain neutral buoyancy. In the depths of the ocean they look more like an actual fish, and are virtually unrecognizable. Blobfish have large heads with rounded bodies that taper towards the tail.