Beautiful things are always preferred, and this law also applies in the world of fish. Fish living in the depths of the ocean not only have to withstand high pressure and have difficulty finding food and partners, but they are also in trouble because few people care about them because they are ugly. Why are deep-sea fish so ugly? How difficult is it to feed them? Let's walk into today's story...
Ugliness is because of the pressure of life
Everyone has different aesthetic standards, but when it comes to the ugliest animal in the world, the blobfish will definitely be chosen with high votes. This is a strange fish that lives in the deep sea between 600 and 1,200 meters. It is born with a "sad face" and is disliked by many people because it looks like a big ball of slimy meat.
But in fact, like most deep-sea fish, the reason why the blobfish looks ugly is because of the pressure of life. Deep water pressure is very high, where the fish fat that helps fish maintain buoyancy is difficult to work. In order to withstand the huge water pressure, the whole body of the blobfish is composed of some gel-like substances that are less dense than water.
In the deep sea, the blobfish can still maintain its basic appearance, but once it is caught on the shore, its body will expand due to lack of water pressure and turn into a ball of "mud". The ugly photos circulating on the Internet are actually photos of the blobfish after it emerged from the water, so to forcefully dig people out of the deep sea and then despise them for being ugly is really an act of humankind that has gone too far.
If you have nothing to eat and no one to eat, you will be lonely and desperate.
The difficulty of survival for deep-sea fish is also reflected in the food and objects you eat.
Take the blobfish as an example. It has no bones, lacks muscles, and doesn’t like to swim. It takes its body to the extreme and naturally lacks an advantage in hunting. It usually waits until food floats to the side of its mouth before opening its mouth to eat casually. It is also commonly known as the lucky player. In other words, if there is no food, it will only starve.
In addition to the dark environment and poor food, some deep-sea fish also face difficulties in escaping. The male lantern fish is a famous soft rice fish in the deep sea. Unlike the beautiful and huge female, it is small and has no bright blue bulb. It is very inconspicuous in the deep sea and it is difficult to find a partner throughout its life.
When it encounters a female, it will immediately bite the female, and then release an enzyme that can dissolve part of the muscles, fusing the muscles with the female's body until their blood circulation becomes integrated, and then they reproduce. Over time, the eyes, fins and even some internal organs of the male lanternfish will disappear, and they will completely "grow" on the female's body, relying on the nutrients in the female's blood to survive until death.
Unprotected because of low appearance
Even if deep-sea fish are ugly, they cannot escape the fate of being salvaged. Even because of poor appearance, lack of attention and the most basic protection and monitoring, the situation becomes increasingly difficult.
French ecologist Nicolas Mouquet once published a paper pointing out that the "appearance" of coral fish is closely related to their survival. The more beautiful the reef fish, the safer it is and is in a non-threatened and low-threat status, and vice versa.
For example, coral fish with bright colors, round bodies and repeating patterns like clownfish have never lacked people's attention; while coral fish with dull colors and no obvious patterns on their bodies, such as trevally, are Few people care.
This is actually easy to understand, because in people’s stereotype , beautiful fish are more fragile and need to be protected more, while ordinary-looking fish seem to be stronger and don’t need to be taken care of. But the fact is that due to overfishing, more and more deep-sea fish have become victims. As lobsters and crabs are brought ashore together, they will die once they leave the deep sea. The more I think about it, the more difficult it becomes for them to survive!
Everyone likes beautiful things, just like the panda Gungun. Even though it has been reduced to vulnerable, it still receives more attention than many endangered species, just because it is so cute.But when it comes to nature conservation, we cannot just focus on beautiful species and turn a blind eye to some inconspicuous creatures. After all, the existence of all kinds of species jointly creates this gorgeous world.
Source: Green Future Environmental Protection Platform
