Blobfish

ID points

• Flesh soft and less dense than seawater, so it hangs in place by buoyancy
• Big head and small eyes, with clearly drooping corners to the mouth
• Almost no muscle and no swim bladder, so it rarely swims actively

Basics

Family

Psychrolutidae

Length

30–40 cm

Depth

600-1200 m

Regions

Temperate & polar · Deep sea

Distribution

Deep water off south-eastern Australia

Habitat

Deep seabed

Diet

Benthic crustaceans, molluscs

Easily confused with

ScorpionfishHead covered in skin flaps and spines, breaking up its outlineBarreleye FishTransparent head dome with two green tubular eyes pointing upFlounderExtremely flattened body lying flat on the seabed

Fun fact

Down in the deep sea the Blobfish actually looks perfectly ordinary. That famously miserable face is what happens after it is hauled to the surface, where the sudden collapse in pressure lets its tissues swell and slump out of shape.