There are many types of sea fish. One of them is a fish called Psychrolutes marcidus or in English, it is called Blobfish. Baby blobfish are cute little replicas of their parents. A blobfish appears in a nest of pink eggs.
It is a type of sea fish that has an unfortunate and sad fate. Because dubbed the ugliest fish in the world and endangered.
The title of the ugliest marine animal in the world was obtained by Blobfish during an animal conservation campaign. The campaign is organized by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society.
At this time, marine animals that can grow up to 12 cm are starting to be degraded due to human activities. He became one of the fish that became the target of anglers. And excessive fishing activity is the main cause of the threat of extinction.
Even though the blobfish is an inedible fish and is also an active animal. It does not have a swim bladder which allows it to move agilely in the water.
He will only spend his life adrift on the seabed. To live, blobfish usually prey on crabs and lobsters which are used as their daily food.
Its habitat is believed to be in the southeastern seas of Australia and Tasmania. It is able to live at depths of 600–1200 meters which have very high water pressure. This high water pressure causes his body to move to and fro in search of prey.
The blobfish is a deep-sea fish from the Psychrolutidae family. It is a type of fish that is rarely seen by humans. This fish was introduced since 2003 ago. He was raised for the first time in New Zealand waters.
The deep sea is under threat
Professor Callum Roberts who is an Ocean Expert from the University of York said, Blobfish has many sad problems.
Professor Roberts is the author of The Non-Natural History of the Ocean. He said, “Blobfish are very susceptible to being lifted up by the nets and from the fact, we know they only live at that depth.”
“Depth fishing in Australia and New Zealand is some of the most active in the world. So it’s really not worth it if the Blobfish is there.
Roberts also said that large parts of the deep sea are now threatened by fishing activity. And it becomes one of the most destructive
According to Roberts, although there are protected deep-sea areas in the South Sea, that protection is only able to protect corals, not being able to protect the endangered blobfish.
“We have done a lot of fishing activities at a depth of 200 meters. At this time we have to move to depths that range from thousands of depths. In 2006, conservationists were close to a global agreement on banning deep-sea fishing,” he said.
Scientific classification
To get to know the world’s ugliest sea fish, here’s the scientific classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Psychrolutidae
Genus: Psychrolutes
Species: P. marcidus
This fish has meat with a density that is lighter than water. This is what allows fish from the order Scorpaeniformes to float above the seabed. He does not need to expend energy to swim.
Most of the meat is gelatin complemented by smooth and soft bones. Gelatin for blobfish serves to make it able to survive in high-pressure environments.
Gelatin also has another function, namely as a float on the seabed at extreme depths. So that the Blobfish does not require a lot of energy to move.
Titled the ugliest or ugly fish in the world because the corner of his face is plastered with parasites. He has a big nose like a probosci’s monkey.
Its body is like jelly, but slightly denser than water. Currently, the population of marine fish from the Actinopterygii class is decreasing.
This is because these fish often become victims of trawling from fishing boats. For this reason, supervision is needed so that fish from the Psychrolutes genus do not become extinct.
