Drop fish: what it looks like and at what depth it lives, what the saddest aquatic inhabitant eats, do they eat

The blobfish is a member of the Psychrolutidae family, whose existence was discovered almost a century ago. Despite this, it still remains an understudied species. It lives in deep ocean waters near the Australian continent and in the waters near New Zealand. She became widely known mainly due to her unattractive appearance and even appeared in memes and films.

General description of drop fish

The drop fish belongs to the Scorpaeniformes family. Its closest relatives are cattunculi and soft-bodied gobies.It was first discovered by fishermen in 1926 in the Pacific depths, but due to the lack of advanced technology at that time, it could not be carefully studied. The Australian goby became known to the whole world in 2003, when one specimen was caught off the coast of New Zealand during an ichthyological research expedition.

Why is it called like this

The fish, referred to in Latin as Psychrolutes marcidus, is so named due to its deep-sea existence, where the water temperature is very low. Translated from ancient Greek, the first word means - "one who likes to take cold baths." It has also been given the English name "blobfish" because it appears to be a gelatinous blob. In England it is called a toad fish, and in Australia it is called a goby.

What a drop fish looks like

The wide popularity of this deep-sea creature is due to its non-standard appearance.This inhabitant of the depths is not like the vast majority of fish, the drop fish lacks the typical scales that we are used to seeing; only some species have small rare spines on their heads.

Her pectoral fins are close to the head and not particularly pronounced. The most noticeable fin is the tail fin, which acts like a rudder and aids in maneuvering. The dorsal fin is either absent or very small.

The blobfish has a spherical head and a long body, narrower near the tail. The average size of her species is 28-33 cm in total length, some adults reach 60-66 cm. They can weigh up to 8-11 kg.

The coloration of these deep sea creatures varies by species, but in general they come in hues such as dark grey, dark brown and pale pink in various combinations. This helps them blend in with their surroundings in the dimly lit waters of the deep.

The most characteristic feature of the Australian bull is its head. Between its two massive eyes with a white iris and a black dot, there is a protrusion inside, resembling a descending human nose, but which is visible only in fish raised to the surface, but not so noticeable in their natural habitat. The mouth of the fish-drop is very stretched, wide, the lips are thick and bright. This species has the corners of its mouth down, which gives it a sad expression and earned it the title of one of the saddest creatures in the world.

Once a fisherman who brought Psychrolutes marcidus to the surface described it in a unique way: "It looks like an old man's head made of jelly was exposed to the sun, causing it to spread."

The peculiar appearance of the Australian goby is not surprising, given its habitat and physiology. He lives in the depths of the sea, where the pressure is several hundred times greater than on the surface, so his body seems to be woven from a gel-like material, the density of which is similar to the density of water, so that he can move without being crushed.In addition, he has no bones or muscles.

Expert opinionZarechny Maxim ValerievichAgronomist with 12 years of experience. Our best gardening expert.Ask a QuestionThis deep-sea creature does not have a swim bladder, and this is a very cunning move, provided for him by nature. After all, at extreme depths, his bubble would be crushed by pressure. Therefore, a drop fish uses ocean currents to move.

Distribution area

The drop fish lives in the Pacific Ocean. Also found in the waters of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Most often it is seen near Tasmania and some islands near New Zealand. It has also been found in deep waters off northern California waters, as well as in Japan.

Population

Representatives of this family have not yet been thoroughly studied due to the high cost of deep sea research, but they are considered to be an endangered species. Three likely reasons for their population decline:

lack of food at great depths;
death from various pollutants that accumulate on the seabed;
fall into fishing nets and rise to the surface.

According to ichthyologists, it will take at least 10-15 years to revive the species. Due to the risk of total destruction of this family, catching blob fish is illegal. In addition, an increase in water temperature in all the oceans of the world is a threatening factor for this species (after all, drop fish live in waters with a low temperature).

Lifestyle

This fish is found in waters that reach depths of 500 to 1300 meters, never rising to the upper layers. This means that you can only watch this wonderful fish in its natural habitat with the help of photos and videos taken by the bathyscaphe.

Ichthyologists have noticed that this strange looking fish has a tendency to live alone, looking for a mate only for the purpose of reproduction.This species is very calm and secretive; he mostly stays in one place deep underwater and rarely moves more than 1-2 kilometers from his home.

What do drop fish eat

At the level of the ocean where the deep-sea blobfish lives, there are not a huge number of other creatures, so its main food sources are small crustaceans, crabs, molluscs, shrimps and other bottom plankton.

The drop fish has an interesting way of catching food: it stays in one place in the water with its mouth open and waits for prey to fall into it. This may be due to the lack of diverse life forms at great depths, as well as her slowness, which means she is often malnourished. However, this slow approach is actually beneficial as it consumes less of her energy.

An interesting fact about Australian gobies is that they are able to hunt efficiently without being able to swim fast due to their excellent eyesight. These animals have protruding eyes that help them see clearly in dim underwater conditions.

Spawning

There is not enough data to describe the mating season of the blobfish, how the female attracts a mate, or how they breed. According to ichthyologists, even despite the absence of seasonal fluctuations at a depth of 0.6-1.3 km, the drop fish spawns and lays eggs in the spring and summer months. The Australian goby lays tens of hundreds of eggs that are pale pink or beige in color. The need for large numbers of eggs to be thrown by blobfish is due to the fact that they are a popular food for other sea creatures. Therefore, according to experts, there can be up to 100,000 eggs in each drop fish nest. Unfortunately, only a small part of the eggs will survive to maturity.

The members of this family are considered to be some of the most devoted parents, as they hibernate next to their eggs in the depths of the sea, like a hen protecting her chicks. After the offspring appear, the parents protect them for about three months until they become independent.Juvenile blobfish have been noted to have a characteristic lighter beige color than adults.

Life cycle of a drop fish

The blobfish can survive in its natural habitat for up to five to nine years, but its population is threatened by lack of food and predators. Although at the depth where she lives, few predators are able to absorb her.

Natural Enemies

Ichthyologists suggest that the greatest threat to drop fish is giant squid and predatory anglerfish. Dropfish eggs are also threatened by deep-sea octopuses and other organisms that may feed on them.

People are the main threat to the unusual, jelly-like blobfish. People do not find any value in the fish itself - it is not very tasty and weighs little, but they use deep-sea trawls to catch crabs and squid on the ocean floor and end up luring blobfish into their nets.

This creature, which lives deep in the ocean, cannot exist on the surface of the water for more than a few hours, making it completely useless to catch.

Interesting facts

Let's find out more about this charismatic inhabitant of the deep sea - the drop fish.

The blobfish has featured in various films and TV shows such as Man in Black and The X-Files.
Despite its unusual sad appearance, the blobfish is a popular figure on souvenirs such as magnets and postcards.
The fish markets in the Australian capital usually sell 6-7 specimens of randomly caught dropfish each year, which are donated to universities or museums for study.
Because it is difficult to reproduce the conditions in which these fish live at great depths on land, today it will be possible to see a living specimen of this family only in the Fukushima Aquarium.

Does her meat taste good

The flesh of the dropfish has not been extensively researched and is not found on the menus of European restaurants, as they consider the flesh of these creatures to be completely tasteless and inedible. However, residents of Asian countries such as China and Japan have a different point of view: they consider it a delicacy and sell the meat of the drop fish at a high price. It's likely that its price is so expensive not because of its unique taste, but rather because of its rarity.

In 2019, a blob fish caught by mistake ended up in the Sydney fish market. Mr. Stallznow, one of the workers, bought it there and cooked it with a blowtorch at his home. He described the taste of the fish as reminiscent of lobster meat.

The most famous representative

In 2002, an Australian goby caught near New Zealand was nicknamed Mr. Blobby and was exhibited at the Australian Museum. Now it can be seen at the Institute of Ichthyology, placed in a jar with a solution of ethyl alcohol tincture.

In 2012, New Zealand stand-up comedian Simon Watt decided to run an "anti-beauty pageant" to decide which animal is the ugliest in the world. After online voting Mr. Blobby won with over ten thousand votes.

The blobfish is a highly talked about fish species on Earth. There are 11 varieties of this family. People have polar opinions about her, finding her funny, heartbreaking, or repulsive. Everyone agrees on only one thing - it is impossible to forget a drop even after one glance at its original appearance.