The blobfish, once mocked as the “world’s ugliest animal,” has now claimed a new title—New Zealand’s Fish of the Year. This deep-sea species, known as Psychrolutes marcidus, lives in the high-pressure waters off New Zealand and Australia.
What Makes Blobfish So Unique?
Unlike most fish, the blobfish does not have a swim bladder, a full skeleton, muscles, or scales. Instead, its soft, jelly-like body is less dense than water, allowing it to float just above the seafloor. This unusual structure helps it survive in the intense pressure of deep-sea environments, where few creatures can exist.
Experts believe blobfish can live for up to 130 years. However, they grow very slowly and move even less. Konrad Kurta, a spokesperson for the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, explains that blobfish don’t chase food. Instead, they wait for prey to drift close enough to swallow. Despite their sluggish nature, they are dedicated parents. Females lay up to 100,000 eggs in a single nest, guarding them fiercely until they hatch.
How the Blobfish Became Famous
For years, blobfish lived in obscurity. That changed over a decade ago when a New Zealand research vessel crew member snapped a rare photo of one. The image went viral, and soon, the blobfish became an internet sensation, inspiring countless memes.
Underwater, blobfish look like ordinary, plump fish. But when pulled to the surface, the sudden change in pressure distorts their features, making them appear mushy and almost melted. Kurta describes it as “a failed medical experiment.”
How Did the Blobfish Win?
The Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust launched the Fish of the Year contest in 2020, inspired by the success of New Zealand’s Bird of the Year competition. This year, the contest saw a record-breaking 5,583 votes, a massive increase from last year’s 1,021 votes.
The blobfish won with 1,286 votes, beating the orange roughy by 300 votes, despite the latter receiving strong support from Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, and the Environmental Law Initiative. Aaron Packard, a spokesperson for the Environmental Law Initiative, welcomed the result, saying, “From an ecosystem perspective, a win for blobfish is a win for orange roughy.”
Why This Victory Matters
New Zealand catches nearly 80% of the world’s orange roughy, a species that conservation groups want to protect. Bottom trawling, a destructive fishing method, frequently drags blobfish from the ocean depths, harming deep-sea ecosystems.
Other finalists for Fish of the Year included the longfin eel (tuna in Māori), a pygmy pipehorse, a critically endangered mudfish, various sharks, and rays. Kurta stresses that 85% of New Zealand’s native marine and freshwater fish species are vulnerable. He adds, “Knowing these fish exist is the first step to getting people invested in what’s happening below the waterline.”
With this victory, the blobfish has gone from an internet joke to a symbol of deep-sea conservation.
