Once labeled the "world's ugliest animal," the blobfish has now been honored as New Zealand's fish of the year, surpassing the longfin eel and pygmy pipehorse in the annual competition. Known scientifically as Psychrolutes marcidus, this unique species inhabits the deep, high-pressure waters off New Zealand and Australia. Unlike typical fish, blobfish lack a swim bladder, full skeleton, muscles, or scales. Instead, their bodies consist of a gelatinous tissue less dense than water, enabling them to hover above the ocean floor.
Blobfish can live up to 130 years, growing and moving slowly. According to Konrad Kurta from the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, which organizes the yearly contest, these fish are ambush predators, waiting for prey to come close enough to be easily captured. They are also attentive parents, with females laying up to 100,000 eggs in a single nest, which they vigilantly guard until hatching.
The blobfish gained notoriety over a decade ago when a crew member on a New Zealand research vessel captured a rare photograph of it. Its unusual appearance quickly became a meme sensation. In their natural habitat, water pressure shapes them into a typical fish form, but when brought to the surface, they appear distorted, resembling "a failed medical experiment," as Kurta describes. The rapid decompression when they are pulled up causes this disfigurement.
Their conservation status remains largely unknown due to limited research, but their numbers and habitats are threatened by deep-sea trawling. Blobfish are often caught during bottom-trawling for orange roughy, Kurta notes.
The Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust initiated the Fish of the Year contest in 2020, inspired by the popular Bird of the Year. This year, the competition received a record 5,583 votes, a significant increase from the previous year's 1,021. The blobfish secured victory with 1,286 votes, narrowly defeating the orange roughy by 300 votes, despite strong support for the latter from groups like Greenpeace and Forest & Bird.
Aaron Packard from the Environmental Law Initiative expressed satisfaction with the blobfish's win, noting that it also benefits the orange roughy from an ecological standpoint. New Zealand accounts for about 80% of the global orange roughy catch, and environmental groups frequently urge a halt to fishing the species due to the harmful impact of bottom trawling on ecosystems and fish populations.
Other competitors in the contest included the enigmatic longfin eel, known as tuna in Māori, the pygmy pipehorse, a critically endangered mud-fish, as well as various sharks and rays. Kurta highlights the diverse array of native marine and freshwater fish in New Zealand, noting that approximately 85% are considered vulnerable. Raising awareness of these species is crucial to fostering interest and concern for underwater ecosystems.