When blobfish are dragged to the surface out of their natural environment in bottom trawling nets, they appear bulbous and gelatinous without water pressure to hold their shape.
Unlike most fish, deep sea fish do not have air-filled cavitites, which act as buoyancy and help with movement. They would collapse under sheer pressure at the depths they live. They rely on their jelly like flesh to provide the required support instead.
They don't actively hunt, due to their lack of muscles. As their jelly-like mass gives them a density lower than water at such deep pressures.
Their only predators are thought to be human, with accidental capture in deep sea trawling nets.
Their only predators are thought to be human, with accidental capture in deep sea trawling nets.
The flesh of the blobfish is primarily a gelatinous mass with very fine, soft bones, which allows the fish to survive at high pressure and float above the sea floor at extreme depths, without expending much energy.
