In reality, it’s not as bad as we think.
If you were to ask what the ugliest creature on Earth is, the votes for the blobfish (also known as Psychrolutes marcidus) would undoubtedly top the list.
The blobfish has a scientific name of Psychrolutes marcidus. It has pale pink or white skin, but its body is always bloated, and its face droops, giving it a perpetually sad appearance.
Of course, how could any fish be uglier than this one? With its soft, bloated body and a face that looks like it’s pouting, it resembles the Pokémon Ditto in a rather unflattering way.
This species was first discovered in the waters around New Zealand and Australia, at depths ranging from 600 to 1,200 meters. These locations have a pressure about 118 times greater than that of the ocean surface.
What’s particularly interesting about this fish is that it has no muscle tissue whatsoever. It lives in areas with scarce food, so blobfish have developed a rather… lazy approach to hunting.
Blobfish float in the water, waiting for prey to pass by (usually crabs, sea urchins, or shellfish…) and then simply open their mouths to swallow the prey whole. According to scientists, this hunting method allows them to conserve energy effectively.
It is known that the fish in the picture is named “Mr. Blobby,” discovered off the coast of New Zealand in 2003. The photo was taken by photographer Kerryn Parkinson that same year, and in 2013, it was entered into a competition to vote for the world’s ugliest creature organized by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society.
As a result, the blobfish won the title, becoming the standard-bearer of ugliness since 2015.
But it turns out, we have all been deceived.
It’s important to know that blobfish are deep-sea fish. They exist in regions where sunlight cannot reach, at depths of approximately 600 – 1,200 meters.
They would never venture into shallower waters unless humans deliberately pull them up.
At those depths, they endure enormous pressure, so their bodies have evolved to adapt. Their bones are softer and more elastic, and their flesh is soft and pliable to avoid being crushed by the pressure.
They also lack swim bladders to control buoyancy, as such a structure cannot survive under those pressure levels.
The lengthy explanation is meant to illustrate that a blobfish looks very different when brought to the surface than it does at the bottom of the ocean. When the pressure is removed, its body swells up, appearing as we have witnessed.
However, at the ocean floor, they look quite normal, just like any other fish. Not ugly at all, at least by human standards.
This is Blobfish at the deep sea.
Speaking of Mr. Blobby, he has since passed away, but his body is preserved in a museum in Australia, honoring and celebrating the creature deemed the epitome of ugliness in the world. Although, he wasn’t really that ugly after all.
