Blobfish: 'World's ugliest animal' is NZ's fish of the year
Don't judge a blob by its cover.Once dubbed the world's ugliest animal for its soft, lumpy appearance, the blobfish has made a stunning comeback: it was crowned this week as Fish of the Year by a New Zealand environmental group.The annual competition, held by the Mountain to Sea Conservation Trust, aims to raise awareness for New Zealand's freshwater and marine life.This year, the blobfish took home the coveted accolade with nearly 1,300 out of more than 5,500 votes cast.
It's an underdog victory for the blobfish, which burst into mainstream notoriety as the mascot for the Ugly Animal Preservation Society in 2013.The gelatinous fish lives on the sea bed and grows to about 12in (30cm) in length. They're mainly found off the coast of Australia and Tasmania, where they live at depths of 2,000-4,000 ft (600-1,200m).While the blobfish is known for its misshapen silhouette, in its natural deep-sea habitat it actually resembles a regular fish, with its shape kept together by the high water pressure.However, when caught and rapidly brought to the water surface its body deforms into its hallmark mushy shape - the same one that has earned it the reputation of being among the ugliest creatures the world has seen.
Coming in second place was the orange roughy, a deep-sea fish in the slimehead family - known for the mucous canals on their heads.It was "a battle of the deep sea forget-me-nots," said Kim Jones, co-director of the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust. "A battle of two quirky deep sea critters, with the blobfish's unconventional beauty helping get voters over the line."The orange roughy had appeared on track for the win, until a couple of local radio station hosts started a passionate campaign for the blobfish."There is an up and coming fish, it needs your vote," Sarah Gandy and Paul Flynn, hosts of local radio network More FM, urged listeners on their show last week. "We need the blobfish to win."News of the blobfish's victory has been celebrated by the radio hosts. "The blobfish had been sitting patiently on the ocean floor, mouth open waiting for the next mollusc to come through to eat," the pair said. "He has been bullied his whole life and we thought, 'Stuff this, it's time for the blobfish to have his moment in the sun', and what a glorious moment it is!"Besides molluscs, the blobfish also eats custaceans like crabs and lobsters, as well as sea urchins.Instead of a skeleton and scales, the blobfish has a soft body and flabby skin.Nine of the ten nominees for fish of the year are considered by conservation groups to be vulnerable, according to the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust. This includes the blobfish, which are vulnerable to deep-sea trawling.New Zealand also has a Bird of the Year contest, organised by conservation organisation Forest & Bird. The latest winner, crowned last September, was the hoiho, a rare penguin species.
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Sky News
19-03-2025
- Sky News
The blobfish: 'World's ugliest animal' named fish of the year in New Zealand
The blobfish, described as the world's ugliest animal, has been voted fish of the year in New Zealand. The creature, which grows to about 12 inches (30cm) long, is known affectionately as Mr Blobby and is the official mascot of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society. It has a bulbous head, and loose, flabby skin, and lives in the deep sea, mainly off the southeastern coast of mainland Australia, the Australian island of Tasmania, and New Zealand. The blobfish topped the annual poll by the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, an environmental non-profit group, winning almost 1,300 out of more than 5,500 votes. The animal, which has a gelatinous, tadpole-like body, benefitted from a late surge in support to overtake the endangered orange roughy, another deep sea dweller, by nearly 300 votes. In their natural habitat, on the seabed at depths of about 2,000ft to 4,000ft (600m-1,200m), blobfish resemble any other fish. But when brought to the surface, where the water pressure isn't high enough to maintain their shape, blobfish morph into mushy creatures with an unfortunate appearance. The trust's co-director, Kim Jones, described the competition as "a battle of two quirky deep sea critters, with the blobfish's unconventional beauty helping get voters over the line". The winner's late run benefitted from the backing of two New Zealand radio hosts, Sarah Gandy and Paul Flynn, who encouraged their listeners to vote blobfish. "We and the people of New Zealand had had enough of other fish getting all the headlines," the broadcasters said. They said the animal "has been bullied his whole life and we thought, 'stuff this, it's time for the blobfish to have his moment in the sun,' and what a glorious moment it is!" A spokesperson for the Environmental Law Initiative, which sponsored the orange roughy in the race, said it had "no bloblem" with the result, stressing that it's "still a win" for deep-sea ecosystems and can help raise awareness about the environmental impact of destructive bottom trawling. The longfin eel, the whale shark and the great white shark were among the other fish in the top 10.
The Independent
19-03-2025
- The Independent
Blobfish's remarkable comeback story, from ‘world's ugliest animal' to New Zealand's fish of the year
The blobfish defied its reputation as the world's ugliest animal to become New Zealand 's Fish of the Year, winning by about 300 votes over the orange roughy. The competition, organised by the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, was aimed at raising awareness about freshwater and marine species and their fragile ecosystems. Native to the deep waters around New Zealand and Australia, the blobfish lacks a skeleton and swim bladder, enabling it to survive at depths of up to 1,200m. The gelatinous fish grows up to 30cm long. In its natural habitat, the blobfish maintains a typical fish shape due to high water pressure. When brought to the surface, however, the lack of pressure causes its body to collapse into its signature mushy form. Psychrolutes marcidus, known for its miserable expression, was made the mascot of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society in 2013. The society aims to protect 'less attractive animals' such as the proboscis monkey. Kim Jones, co-director of the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, said it was 'a battle of two quirky deep-sea critters, with the blobfish's unconventional beauty helping get voters over the line'. A late push from More FM radio station helped secure the victory for the blobfish, turning its 'unconventional beauty' into a symbol of marine conservation and sparking a wider discussion about protecting deep-sea species in New Zealand. Campaigning for the eventual winner, More FM hosts Sarah Gandy and Paul Flynn said: 'He has been bullied his whole life, and we thought, 'Stuff this, it's time for the blobfish to have his moment in the sun.'' After the blobfish's win, the hosts said: 'The blobfish had been sitting patiently on the ocean floor, mouth open waiting for the next mollusc to come through to eat. What a glorious moment it is!' Ten fish species competed for the 2025 Fish of the Year title. The blobfish won with 1,286 votes against the orange roughy's 1,009. The longfin eel got 646 votes, whale shark 596, big-bellied seahorse 386, great white shark 344, and lamprey 312. The 2025 edition of the annual competition witnessed the highest turnout of 5,583 votes, up from 1,021 in 2024. 'In some ways it was fitting blobfish and orange roughy were close at the end. They both live in deep sea environments close to New Zealand, and the blobfish is often incidentally caught during bottom trawling for orange roughy,' Ms Jones said. The orange roughly is also a deep-sea fish found in New Zealand and Australia. 'While the blobfish's exact conservation status is unknown, orange roughy populations are struggling. Carefully managing orange roughy and its habitat will benefit the blobfish, too,' Ms Jones added. A 2012 editorial in New Zealand's Stuff noted that 'the cuteness factor' of some animal species has been the subject of scientific analysis, 'through which it was determined that cute animals always trump their more modest-looking fellow species when it comes to conservation'. New Zealand has around 1,400 marine fish species, including 300 endemics and 54 freshwater species, many of which are declining or threatened, according to the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust.
BBC News
19-03-2025
- BBC News
Blobfish: 'World's ugliest animal' is NZ's fish of the year
Don't judge a blob by its dubbed the world's ugliest animal for its soft, lumpy appearance, the blobfish has made a stunning comeback: it was crowned this week as Fish of the Year by a New Zealand environmental annual competition, held by the Mountain to Sea Conservation Trust, aims to raise awareness for New Zealand's freshwater and marine year, the blobfish took home the coveted accolade with nearly 1,300 out of more than 5,500 votes cast. It's an underdog victory for the blobfish, which burst into mainstream notoriety as the mascot for the Ugly Animal Preservation Society in gelatinous fish lives on the sea bed and grows to about 12in (30cm) in length. They're mainly found off the coast of Australia and Tasmania, where they live at depths of 2,000-4,000 ft (600-1,200m).While the blobfish is known for its misshapen silhouette, in its natural deep-sea habitat it actually resembles a regular fish, with its shape kept together by the high water when caught and rapidly brought to the water surface its body deforms into its hallmark mushy shape - the same one that has earned it the reputation of being among the ugliest creatures the world has seen. Coming in second place was the orange roughy, a deep-sea fish in the slimehead family - known for the mucous canals on their was "a battle of the deep sea forget-me-nots," said Kim Jones, co-director of the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust. "A battle of two quirky deep sea critters, with the blobfish's unconventional beauty helping get voters over the line."The orange roughy had appeared on track for the win, until a couple of local radio station hosts started a passionate campaign for the blobfish."There is an up and coming fish, it needs your vote," Sarah Gandy and Paul Flynn, hosts of local radio network More FM, urged listeners on their show last week. "We need the blobfish to win."News of the blobfish's victory has been celebrated by the radio hosts. "The blobfish had been sitting patiently on the ocean floor, mouth open waiting for the next mollusc to come through to eat," the pair said. "He has been bullied his whole life and we thought, 'Stuff this, it's time for the blobfish to have his moment in the sun', and what a glorious moment it is!"Besides molluscs, the blobfish also eats custaceans like crabs and lobsters, as well as sea of a skeleton and scales, the blobfish has a soft body and flabby of the ten nominees for fish of the year are considered by conservation groups to be vulnerable, according to the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust. This includes the blobfish, which are vulnerable to deep-sea Zealand also has a Bird of the Year contest, organised by conservation organisation Forest & Bird. The latest winner, crowned last September, was the hoiho, a rare penguin species.
