Blobfish

(Redirected from Psychrolutes)

The blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus) is three species of a fish of the family Psychrolutidae. They live in deep waters off the coasts of Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand.[1]

Blobfish
Psychrolutes marcidus.jpg
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Psychrolutidae
Genus: Psychrolutes
Species:
P. 
Binomial name
Psychrolutes
(McCulloch, 1926)
Synonyms

Neophrynichthys marcidus McCulloch, 1926

Blobfish are typically shorter than 30 cm. They live at depths between 600 and 1,200 m (2,000 and 3,900 ft) where the pressure is several dozen times higher than at sea level.

Blobfish are often caught accidentally in bottom trawling nets. Scientists now fear the blobfish could become an endangered species because of deep-ocean trawling.[2][3]

As often happens with common names, there is another fish which may also be called "blobfish". It is Macquarie blobfish, a species of Ebinania.

References