9 Of The Ugliest Fish You’ve Ever Seen
The stripes of a tiger, The wings of a sunset moth, The feathers of a peacock.
Mother nature offers some majestic, and beautiful sights.
But, there’s a whole other side to that coin.
Some animals are downright ghastly, and a few fish species are the absolute best of the worst. They can be bumpy, hairy, lumpy, pointy, and just plain wrong.
Scroll down and find 9 of the Ugliest Fish you’ve ever seen.
Toad Fish
Starting off our list is 1 of about 80 similar species of bottom dwellers found throughout the Americas. Not only are they ugly, they’re nasty!
Between their venom-injecting spines, habit of biting when touched, audible grunting and croaking, and a face only a mother could love, this fish is better left alone.
Monk Fish
Growing up to 4.5 feet, Monk Fish are the dirty scavengers of the sea. They’ll eat pretty much anything that gets near their mouth, including other Monk Fish.
Despite all of this, they are a highly sought after delicacy. Their tail meat in particular is sweet and carries a similar texture to that of scallop or lobster.
BumpHead ParrotFish
Are they wrong-beavers? Are they the smartest fish in the water with massive brains?
Nope, they’re just ugly.
You’ll never see one though. Rather, you’ll see dozens since this species tends to swim in school of up to 100+ around coral reefs. Although they don’t look great, they’re pretty calm and probably wouldn’t even notice your presence.
Goblin Shark
The Goblin Shark looks like a rejected H.R. Giger creature – Think ‘Alien’ movie series. No it’s not dead, it was born looking like a a fossil. That ugly mouth is actually pretty cool though. Following a 124 Million year old lineage, the Goblin Shark has the ability to rapidly extend its mouth by up to 3 inches in order to catch its prey.
Atlantic Wolf Fish
The Atlantic Wolfish is known by many many names including Seawolf and Devil Fish. No matter what you call it, those monstrous teeth, bulging eyes, and puffy head can be found in your back yard.
Hairy Frog Fish
You know that feeling when you take a bite of food and find a hair? Well, the Hairy Frog Fish is the living embodiment of that feeling. Although it looks like something that a cat coughed up, it may be able to keep up with your angling skills.
It uses a ‘rod’ (illicium dorsal fin) that lures in its prey. When close enough the hairy frog fish opens its mouth to suck the prey in, allowing it to eat fish twice its own size.
Boney-Eared Assfish
No, we’re not making it up. That’s the official name. You can find this beauty – We won’t comment on its appearance – off the coast of British Columbia but you’ll have to hold your breath. They live about 4500 metres deep.
Stargazer Fish
This aquatic skull remains buried under sand with only its eyes and mouth remaining visible. Not only does the stargazer fish feature venomous spines, it can also discharge up to 50 volts of electricity.
Blobfish
Wrapping up our list is the blob fish. Lacking both bones and teeth, this odd creature looks like a large-nosed bald man’s head that was left in the microwave too long.
Perhaps evolution played a cruel joke, or maybe the strategy is to make the rest of the sea creatures feel so bad for this sack of sad that nothing wants to eat it.
If you’ve made it through this entire list with your lunch still intact, we thank you. It’s not our intention to turn you off of fish, so to make it up to you…
… meet the Smiling Salamander
If that doesn’t do it for you, perhaps this super satisfying slow motion bass video will get you back into the fishing mood. Fair warning though, you’re about to get hypnotized for the next 4 minutes.
We’ve heard a lot of rumours of bizarre looking fish being pulled from freshwater Canadian lakes. If you happened to have caught one yourself, we’d love to hear your story!
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