It has a sewn-on frown, a sizable schnoz, and a jellylike lump for a body. Its demeanor? If Eeyore were a fish and having an especially bad day, this would be your guy.
It’s called the blobfish, and it was all that one animal conservation group could do to award the deep-sea creature its most ignominious honor.
The Ugly Animal Preservation Society — a comedic group “with a conservation twist” headed by U.K. biologist Simon Watt — named the blobfish the organization’s mascot Thursday night, making it the de facto ugliest animal in the world. The announcement followed a vote-off conducted jointly with the British National Science + Engineering Competition that pitted the blobfish against 10 other “uglies”, including the flightless dung beetle and the pig-nosed turtle.
Say this for the victor: it can’t help itself.
“Blobfish are made out of a gelatinous material, pretty much jelly, which makes them slightly denser than water, making them perfectly suited to a life deep down at the bottom of the ocean,” Watt said in a promotional video.
The fish lives at depths where the pressure is several dozen times higher than it is at sea level, so naturally, it looks a little worse for wear so far removed from its natural habitat.
“I think the sad face of the blobfish belies a kind and very wise little brain in there,” comedian Paul Foot, who championed the blobfish during the event, said.
Check out more about the winning (or losing?) fish — and a touch of Foot’s distinct comedy — below.
