Blob fish stay close to the ocean floor, which means few people ever see them.

Sometimes anglers capture a blob fish by chance when fishing in deep waters.  Sporting a face shaped like a triangle and wearing what looks like a scowling face, Blob fish are not exactly easy on the eye.

Nevertheless, these extraordinary marine fish are well adapted to their habitat:

1. They have no gas bladders – because they do not need them. Gas bladders cannot function at the pressure at that level which is 80 times that at the surface.

2. They are a large coagulated mass of gel with a density lower than water – allowing them to glide over the ocean floor.

3. They have no muscles because they do not have to swim. They wait until prey comes by – mollusks, sea urchins and crustaceans.

People first described Blob fish in 1978. In 2000, scientists found Blob fish breeding grounds on the Gorda Escarpment near the Coast of California. Scientists still observe them every year in different places. They first occupied ocean floors near Australia and Tasmania.

Facts about blob fish breeding

Blob fish nests can contain 9,000-108,000 pink eggs – usually brooded by a fish sitting on them. Even seemingly unattended eggs are usually clean – suggesting some tending.

Blob fish live very close to each other – sometimes nesting less than a meter apart. Scientists believe that they all tend to select one limited place for nesting because of a steady supply of food.