When it comes to the saddest creatures in the world, it is impossible not to mention the blobfish, which is pink and soft all over, and has a super sad expression.
The saddest fish in the world
Squirrelfish (Psychrolutes marcidus), commonly known as blobfish, sad fish, is a deep-sea fish that inhabits near Tasmania and New Zealand, Australia, at a water depth of 600-1200 meters. In 1983, a research vessel found the first blobfish in New Zealand. But deep-sea fish are not easy to observe, and the number of samples in bottom trawls alone is really hard to increase biologists’ understanding of them.
Even so, the pink, fleshy, flat-nosed fish quickly caught the attention of the public and was voted “the ugliest creature in the world” for its peculiarly sad appearance. Blobfish memes, keyrings and plush dolls are all around us. People especially liked its sullen look and felt it perfectly captured our everyday emotions.
However, the blobfish is not born like this – its “bitterness” is caused by the day following tomorrow.
It’s all because of the rapid decompression.
Blobfish, which grow in the deep sea, must withstand water pressures 100 times greater than ours. To adapt to their environment, their bones are soft and they have only a few muscles. When the blobfish is caught by the sling and brought to the surface, the rapidly decreasing water pressure will cause its body to swell, and its gelatinous tissue will collapse because it cannot maintain its original structure, becoming the flattened in our popular impression. collapsed.
That’s right! The “sulky blobfish” that humans are fascinated by is actually a swollen fish carcass that died from a burst of internal organs.
Deep-sea daily life of blobfish
Blobfish that live in deep water actually look very ordinary. It usually does not exceed 30 cm in length and weighs less than 2 kg.
Like many deep-sea fish, blobfish do not have bladder-like organs such as swim bladders that control buoyancy, and if they want to move freely on the seabed, they rely on “gelatinous fat bodies” that are less dense than water.
In other words, blobfish are like “oil” floating in the water, they do not actively prey, but drift with the current in the deep sea,Eat whatever comes to your mouth.
sadder than sadness
So far, the academic community still does not know much regarding the blobfish, and it can only be speculated that they, like other deep-sea fish, have a long lifespan. As for its mating behavior, juvenile appearance, natural enemies and group numbers, it is still unknown.
It should be noted that the blobfish may be on the verge of extinction now that deep-sea fishing is prevalent.
Especially on the issue of animal conservation, cute and photogenic species always steal the limelight, and ugly ones are hardly discussed. Take invertebrates as an example, although they make up 79% of all living things, they appear in only 11% of the literature on animal conservation because of their unpleasant appearance. For “ugly” animals like the blobfish, let alone protection, even related research is particularly rare.
Next time on the topic of conservation, in addition to the representative animals such as pandas and polar bears, don’t forget these unknown residents who are also struggling to live on this planet.
References:
- The blobfish: A bloated guide to the world’s ugliest animal (and what they really look like)
- Behold the Blobfish – How a creature from the deep taught the world a lesson regarding the importance of being ugly
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