If you had to choose the ugliest animal in the world, which animal would you choose? Maybe everyone has a different definition of ugly, and the answer given will be different. But in the only vote in history for the ugliest animal, an animal called the waterdrop fish stood out and topped the list.
In 2013, the British Ugly Animal Protection Association (which even has such an association) held an online voting contest for "the world's ugliest animals", in which a strange creature with a body transformed into a beach, a big nose, and a super unbeautiful mood - the water drop fish eventually became the champion of the netizen vote. And he competed for the championship position is still a distant relative of human proboscis monkeys, can only sigh, more ugly than the ugliest human beings, indeed the "ugly king", no wonder people will take the water drop fish and Trump jokes!
a, b are water drop fish and proboscis monkeys[1], c is a picture of netizens who spoof water drop fish and Trump[2]
The "Ugly King" from the Deep Sea
The dripfish, scientific name psychrolutes marcidus, belongs to the psychrolutidae family and lives in deep-sea waters near New Zealand, Australia and Tasmania at depths of 600-1200 metres. Although many people have heard of the big name of the water drop fish, we actually know very little about this species. The English nickname for droplet fish is blobfish, which literally means "an indescribable clump" (if the droplet fish knew that it was so simple and rude to describe it, it must be very hurt). However, it also reflects a major misconception about the fish: the drop fish looks like the one we see in the pictures.
Various "indescribable clumps" a[3],b[4].
Is the "ID photo" of the dripping fish not a Buddha-figure?
Dripfish live in the deep ocean, where the pressure is 100-200 times stronger than on land. Like other deep-sea creatures, in order to adapt to life in the deep sea, the dripfish has evolved a whole set of adaptation mechanisms. They do not have very hard bones, have very little muscle content, and their bodies are more composed of gelatinous substances that are less dense than water, so that they have better toughness and withstand the huge pressure on the seabed [5]. There are also no swim bladders, as air-filled swim bladders can be easily crushed in the deep ocean, becoming a suicidal organ.
These physical properties help the dripfish adapt well to life in the deep sea, but when they leave the deep sea and come to land, everything will become a disaster. Because the pressure changes dramatically, and they lack bones and muscles, they become "indescribable clumps" as we were photographed after it came out of the water. Therefore, although the "ID photo" is passed everywhere, the water drop fish that leaves the deep sea is not the real appearance of the "water drop fish".
Looking at the water drop fish now, I don't think it's a little pitiful. Image source:References[6]
What does a real water drop fish look like?
Although scientists have not yet photographed live dropfish, scientists believe that in the deep sea, they will look completely different from what we see on land. The scientific community speculates that in the deep sea, they maintain the normal body shape of a fish, rather than a soft clump. Dripfish lurk on the bottom of the sea and do not swim very often. This can also be seen in the appearance of psychrolutes phrictus, a close relative of the droplet fish, at the bottom of the water.[5]
Scientists speculate on what the drip fish really looks like on the ocean floor [7]. b. What the dropletfish's close relative, psychrolutes phrictus, look like underwater[5]
What do droplet fish eat? Scientists believe that the dripfish are mainly mollusks and arthropods in the deep sea, but due to their lack of muscle tissue, their swimming ability and predatory ability are relatively low, and they mainly prey on ambushes.
Leave me alone, I'm gentle!
Unfortunately, the water drop fish that was exposed to the "ugly photo" did not have a good life.
As inshore fishing has been harvested less and less, humans have gradually shifted the focus of fishing to the deeper deep sea, and the inactive dripfish often fall prey to deep-sea fishing.
Many scientists have also deduced that the population of dripfish has declined significantly, and it is likely that it is already an endangered species .[8] Moreover, the droplet fish that leaves the deep sea can neither be artificially raised nor used as an ingredient (even if it can, it is probably difficult for anyone to be willing to bite such a slime" and can only be buried in vain after being caught.
There are still many unsolved mysteries about the dripfish, and only some knowledge is known about its distant relatives around the world – the Cryptocephalus family, to which the dripfish belongs, is currently found in 9 genera and 40 species. The common feature of these species is that they all have large heads and prefer to inhabit the bottom of the water.
Imagine two waterdrops lingering on the bottom of the sea. Image source: rachel caauwe丨 wikimedia commons
One of the most famous is probably the discoloured cryptocephalus phrictus (also known as blob sculpin), one reason is that blob sculpin is found in many places, and another important reason is that scientists have discovered the distinctive characteristics of cryptocephalus fish - the female of this type of fish will guard the eggs after spawning until the juvenile hatches. Therefore, I have to sigh that although people look "ugly", they are very conscientious and gentle.
The discolored cryptocephalic dufacial fish that is guarding the eggs. Image source: References[9].
I'm not ugly and gentle
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Source: Michael hearst 丨unusual creatures