| Blobfish | |
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| Drawing by Alan Riverstone McCulloch | |
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| Species: | P. marcidus |
| Binomial name | |
| Psychrolutes marcidus (McCulloch, 1926) | |
The blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus) sometimes refered to as the smooth-headed blobfish, is a deep sea fish of the family Psychrolutidae. Fishes in this family are commonly referred to as fathead sculpins, which refers to their large rounded head and loose, folded skin that is typical of these fishes. [1] Blobfish inhabit the deep waters off the coasts of mainland Australia and Tasmania,[2] it is rarely seen by humans. This fish has a gelatinous body structure that is not adapted to being out of water. [3] The blobfish can grow to about 1 foot (30 centimeters) long and unlike most fish, it lacks scales and its bones are soft. The blobfish is a weak swimmer and usually does not swim at all, instead it floats or uses its pectoral fins to walk along the sea floor. [4] This fish has a stout body, a large head, no muscles, spinous and soft-rayed dorsal fins, and anterior dorsal fins that are often partially buried in skin. [5]
Blobfish live at depths between 600–1,200 m (2,000–3,900 ft) where the pressure is several dozen times higher than at sea level, which would likely make gas bladders inefficient for maintaining buoyancy.[2] Instead, the flesh of the blobfish is primarily a gelatinous mass with a density slightly less than water; this allows the fish to float above the sea floor without expending energy on swimming. Its relative lack of muscle is not a disadvantage as it primarily swallows edible matter that floats in front of it. Blobfish eat invertebrates like crabs and sea pens.[citation needed] The blobfish has small eyes and preys on creatures that use bioluminescence. It also relies highly on its sense of smell and touch. The stomach of the blobfish is covered with dark tissue so that the bioluminescent prey which it has consumed cannot be seen from the outside. [6] Being inedible themselves, the blobfish has no known natural predators. [7] The female blobfish can lay thousands of pinkish colored eggs at once and unlike most fish, will stay with her eggs, sometimes actually sitting on top of them and cleaning them frequently. Blobfish nesting habits are uncommon and researchers have often found blobfish nests very close together. Some cases reported that nests were only about 1 meter apart from each other. [8]
Blobfish can be caught by bottom trawling with nets as bycatch. Such trawling in the waters off Australia may threaten the blobfish in what may be its only habitat.[9] This deep sea trawling can also damage the blobfish's habitat. [10]
The blobfish is currently facing extinction due to deep-sea fishing or bottom trawling.[11] The only conservation effort to save the blobfish is aan attempted ban on deep sea trawling.[12]