Animal Profiles
Fish

Blobfish

Psychrolutes marcidus

Living

Living individuals or members of this group exist today. This does not mean they are safe from extinction.

The smooth-head blobfish is an Australian deep-water fish with a broad head, loose skin and a tapering body. Its biology remains much less familiar than the popular images of blobfishes suggest.

Historical scientific illustration of the smooth-head blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus).

Historical scientific illustration of the smooth-head blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus).

At a glance

Location
Australian continental-slope waters, including off Tasmania.
Habitat
Open ocean
Food
Species-specific diet remains poorly documented.

Classification

Common name
Blobfish
Browse group
Fish
Scientific name or taxon
Psychrolutes marcidus
Taxon rank
species
Order
Scorpaeniformes
Family
Psychrolutidae
Genus
Psychrolutes
Source classification
Actinopterygii

Taxonomy checked against GBIF. For breeds and hybrids, this describes the listed parent taxon.

Three things to know

  • It has loose, scaleless skin.
  • It inhabits continental-slope waters.
  • It is sometimes caught incidentally in trawls.

Habitat and range

Psychrolutes marcidus occurs off Australia, including Tasmania, in deep continental-slope waters. It lives near the seabed rather than being a normal inhabitant of surface waters.

Appearance and adaptations

A broad rounded head leads into a narrowing body. The skin is loose and scaleless, and the colour is pale brown to grey. The lead image is a historical scientific illustration of this species.

Biology and evidence

The species is occasionally taken as bycatch in commercial trawls. Its specific diet and many aspects of its behaviour remain insufficiently documented in the available species accounts, so these are left unassigned.

Sources

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