Blobfish are deep-sea fish found in the waters of the Australian and Tasmanian coasts. They are mostly about one foot long. This article will cover the concern “What does Blobfish look like under water?”, how they look under and out of the water, their habitat, etc.
What does Blobfish look like underwater?
Blobfish have large bulbous heads and massive jaws and they look like normal fish in their natural environment. The fish gets its name from its specific body shape just like a blobby blob of jelly. But there aren’t any big blobs in oceans.
The skin of blobfish is loose because of water pressure. Their specific tail appearance makes them more like a tadpole than fish. They utilize water pressure to keep their figure and get a tadpole-like shape.
What makes a blobfish a blob?
It’s well explained with the help of an example. We all know that the slimy stuff kids play with is called slime. When the slime is in the container, the container maintains its shape. But when it’s taken out of the container, it becomes blobby and doesn’t have a particular shape. The same principle applies to blobfish and is designed to work under underwater pressure.
Are there any bones or muscles present in blobfish?
Blobfish don’t have any muscles, bones, or teeth. The bones are replaced by a soft structure and blobfish appear like couch potatoes. They are known to be lazy fish that don’t spend a lot of energy, which means they wait for water currents to bring snacks their way instead of hunting.
The water pressure in deep oceans gives blobfish their required support and they don’t need any muscle or bone. However, it resides just above the ocean floor and moves its mouth to catch its food. Their diet mainly comprises mollusks and crabs.
How does blobfish look under water?
Blobfish look very different while underwater and when they are taken out of the water. They are known to be the ugliest animals but they aren’t ugly, it’s just that they have adapted themselves according to their underwater life.
Blobfish are mostly bottom-dwelling fish and when you take them out of the water it loses their shape. It’s because the water pressure keeps its shape intact underwater. But when taken out, its body collapses and loses shape because of the lower pressure of air than water pressure.
How does blobfish look out of the water?
A blobfish appears gelatinous, blobby, and flabby outside the water. This is due to the loss of water pressure outside the oceans. Out of the water, the blobfish’s eyes, mouth, and nose become more prominent and give it the look of a blobby alien.
When these fish are caught in fishermen trawling nets, the water pressure decreases and the fish begins to lose its characteristic shape. Blobfish are of no benefit to fishermen, so some attempt to through them back into the ocean to spare their lives.
What’s the natural habitat of blobfish?
Blobfish inhabit deep in the oceans. There’s no sign of blobfish until you go at least 1600 feet deep in the ocean. They need the deepest waters to keep their body form intact. Some blobfish even live at depths of 4000 feet, the pressure there is intense and there aren’t any predators to eat blobfish.
They are mainly found in the deep waters of the Australian coast. Three types of blobfish are found near Australia: the smooth-head blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus), the Western Blobfish (Psychrolutes occidentalis), and Mr. Blobby (Psychrolutes microporos).
How do blobfish survive extreme water conditions?
Blobfish have specially designed bodies. They don’t have a swim bladder, so they don’t rise to the upper water bodies. Instead, their body is made up of gelatinous jelly-like flesh. This composition allows them to withstand extreme water conditions and high pressure.
How does blobfish reproduce?
Blobfish have a unique mechanism for reproduction and incredible reproductive skills. They generate large clutches and lay around 100-1000 eggs at once in nests. They guard these nests closely and make sure that the parents are nearby to take care of and prevent attacks by predators.
What’s the largest threat to blobfish?
The deep water blobfish resides in is safe from predators as far as we know. Most threat to the blobfish population is posed by human activities. The fishermen trawling nets catch them and separate them from their natural habitat and bring them out of the water.
We don’t eat blobfish, not only because of their appearance when they come out on the surface, but also because blobfish doesn’t have much flavor. However, some scientists believe that they are in danger of extinction since we don’t know all the locations where blobfish live.
Conclusion
Today, we covered the article “”How does Blobfish look like under water?”, how they look under and out of the water, their habitat, etc. From the above discussion, it’s concluded that blobfish underwater appears as fish having abnormal nose, bulbous head, and massive jaws.
