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Animals from Around the World
Blobfish
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Animal class: Fish (Have vertebrae (a backbone or spine), have gills instead of lungs, are cold-blooded (their bodies cannot hold heat and must warm themselves by their surroundings like the sun), have fins to help them get around, most have scales, most do not have eyelids, have a swim bladder (helps them control how deep they go in the water), they have a 2 chamber heart, their ears are inside their bodies, they lay eggs that will, but some females will carry their fertilized eggs and give live birth (only a few species do this), and their sizes range from a male Photocorynus spiniceps (a type of anglerfish) 0.2 in (6.1 mm) to the Whale shark at 42 ft (13 m)) (Examples: Goldfish, sharks, salmon, and Sword Fish. There are over 30,000 different species)
- Diet: Omnivore (They eat plants and meat): Plants, crabs, snails, oysters, sea urchins, and pieces of dead animals that make their way down to the ocean floor
- Lifespan: About 130 years
- Predators: Only humans because of pollution, warming waters, and some fishing
- Size: About 1 ft (30 cm) long
- Species: There are about 9 different species of blobfish, but there are around 30,000 different species of fish
- Speed: About 5 mph (8 kph)
- Status: Scientists are unsure how many are left since they live so deep in the ocean.
- Weight: About 20 lbs. (10 kg)
Where do they live?: They live in the deep oceans of the Indian and Pacific Oceans
- They could be found 1,100-9,300 ft (335-2,800 m) under the ocean’s surface because they do not have a swim bladder. This air-filled sac acts as a floating device for the fish, which helps keep them closer to the surface.
- They don’t need hard, thick bones since they like to hang out at the bottom of the ocean floor. They do have fragile, soft bones but very few muscles. So this is why when they are out of the water, they look blob-like with funny-looking faces because they have no real bones to support their shape.
- They do not have teeth and are not active hunters. They usually lie down and wait until something floats by their mouth and then gobble it up.