# Which is the uglier fish? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 13, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960 "2007-04-13T15:45:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/41 "2007-04-16T08:01:14Z")
Wow, way to go, making me feel bad! ☹ Yes, all animals are beautiful, but… some are just not as conventionally beautiful as others. 😑 ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/42 "2007-04-16T14:46:24Z")
[QUOTE=wolf\_meister] Even though I read it was only found in the deepest parts of the ocean, whenever I went to the beach and into the water, I always would wonder if there’d be one smart-aleck anglerfish who’d crawl out of the deep just to bite me on the ass. [/QUOTE] You’re thinking too small. From [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglerfish): > [@](#): > > Anglerfish may grow to a length of 200 cm **(6.5 feet)** Your ass would be in trouble… Their reproductive habits are pretty durn scary too: > [@](#): > > When a male of one of these species hatches…he finds a female, he bites into her flank, and releases an enzyme which digests the skin of his mouth and her body, fusing the pair down to the blood vessel level. The male then atrophies into nothing more than a pair of gonads that release sperm in response to hormones in the female’s bloodstream indicating egg release. This…ensures that when the female is ready to spawn, she has a mate immediately available. The life of a mail angler fish doesn’t sound too appealing… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/43 "2007-04-16T15:16:09Z")
Blobfish reminded me of the [Sontaran](http://www.monitorduty.com/mdarchives/sontaran2.jpg) from Doctor Who. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/44 "2007-04-16T15:44:31Z")
[QUOTE=Mirror Image egamI rorriM] How about the [Shortraker Rockfish?](http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/groundfish/RockfishGuide/images/Scorpaenidae/borealisbig.jpg) Not an attractive animal. [/QUOTE] The fact that it has a giant, circumcised penis coming out of it’s mouth doesn’t help. What is that, some kind of defensive feature, a la sea cucumber? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/45 "2007-04-16T16:36:42Z")
[QUOTE=Dante] The fact that it has a giant, circumcised penis coming out of it’s mouth doesn’t help. What is that, some kind of defensive feature, a la sea cucumber? [/QUOTE] It’s more akin to explosive decompression\* from being rapidly pulled a from the depths of the ocean. In other words, a really bad case of the bends. Really bad. [sub]\*Explosive decompression may not be the accurate term, but it’s much more fun to say.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/46 "2007-04-16T18:25:37Z")
[QUOTE=Vision of Love] Wow, way to go, making me feel bad! ☹ Yes, all animals are beautiful, but… some are just not as conventionally beautiful as others. 😑 [/QUOTE] Sorry. That was not my intention. I am not trying to ride some high ass horse. I just wanted to shed some light on this beautiful old fish. Most photos are poor of them on the net. And I agree the one that was posted looked hideous. [Better Photo](http://www.komar.org/faq/seward-fishing/yellow-eye-rockfish/) They are an often discussed fish in my area and I was surprised to see one mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/47 "2007-04-16T18:38:33Z")
I thought **monkfish** when I saw the OP, but was beat to it. The funny thing about monkfish is that it is delicious. It tastes a lot like lobster (so much so that you could fool people) and can substitute it for lobster in recipes. I think it used to be fairly cheap, but not any more. Evidently it tastes like crustaceans because it dines mostly on shrimp. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/48 "2007-04-16T18:43:19Z")
[QUOTE=Wile E] It’s more akin to explosive decompression\* from being rapidly pulled a from the depths of the ocean. In other words, a really bad case of the bends. Really bad. [/QUOTE] That photo seriously pissed me off. I wanted to take a 2x4 and smack the smug shit-eating grins off the faces of those three assholes, who were all delighted and proud of themselves, holding up the corpses of three fish who had obviously just suffered a massively torturous death. Fucking assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silence_of_the_clams)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/49 "2007-04-16T20:47:09Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] I would have to see the blobfish in the water. [/QUOTE] Here’s the [blob sculpin](http://www.mbari.org/news/news_releases/2003/nr05-drazen-images.html) in situ. Actually quite handsome, don’t you think? (scroll down the page a bit) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/50 "2007-04-16T23:12:33Z")
Actually, on second thought, the blobfish looks a bit like [Bob Hoskins](http://http://entimg.msn.com/i/150/Movies/Actors/ahosk1792378_150.jpg) Blob Hoskins. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/51 "2007-04-17T00:02:35Z")
Surely the [toad](http://www.scottsbt.com/fishids/idcom/phoystc1.gif)[fish](http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Toadfish/toadfish%20mouth%20wwm.jpg) and the [sea](http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00946/pic_used/sea_lamprey.jpg) [lamprey](http://www.ryanphotographic.com/images/JPEGS/Geotria%20australis%20New%20Zealand%20lamprey.jpg) and the [stone](http://budak.blogs.com/the_annotated_budak/images/stonefish_front)[fish](http://home.datacomm.ch/renebu/stonefish.jpg) must have spots somewhere in the top ten. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/52 "2007-04-17T00:08:20Z")
Oh yeah, and let us not forget the [lantern](http://www.ifremer.fr/exocetd/illustrations/galerie/Caulophrynidae%201bsmall.jpg) [fish](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/thidarat2006/Jul06/lanternfish.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/53 "2007-04-17T01:27:26Z")
Holy crap, that toadfish has teeth all the way down to his guts. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/54 "2007-04-17T02:45:27Z")
I think a lot of Science Fiction artists and movie monster makers must get a lot of their ideas from Marine Biology. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/55 "2007-04-17T02:48:05Z")
Pshaw. At least the lamprey doesn’t create buckets of slime, like its icky [cousin](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://biology.ucok.edu/AnimalBiology/Chordata/Vertebrata/Agnatha/Hagfish1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://biology.ucok.edu/AnimalBiology/Chordata/Vertebrata/Agnatha/Agnatha.html&h=374&w=437&sz=19&hl=en&start=43&tbnid=9A8LvlfutUEeHM:&tbnh=108&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhagfish%26start%3D40%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN)[the](http://users.ox.ac.uk/~zool0617/hagtank.jpg) [hagfish](http://uplink.space.com/attachments/458373-hagfish.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/56 "2007-04-17T03:36:27Z")
[QUOTE=Wile E] [sub]\*Explosive decompression may not be the accurate term, but it’s much more fun to say.[/sub] [/QUOTE] In fact, explosive decompression and the bends have virtually nothing to do with each other. The first is a self-explanatory term – it happens when there’s a fast enough change in pressure to make the expansion of gases within the fish be an explosion. The bends are the release of excess nitrogen that is retained in the bloodstream when the subject is breathing normal air at a higher pressure. ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/57 "2007-04-17T06:37:16Z")
[QUOTE=fifty-six] Sorry. That was not my intention. I am not trying to ride some high ass horse. I just wanted to shed some light on this beautiful old fish. Most photos are poor of them on the net. And I agree the one that was posted looked hideous. [Better Photo](http://www.komar.org/faq/seward-fishing/yellow-eye-rockfish/) They are an often discussed fish in my area and I was surprised to see one mentioned. [/QUOTE] Sorry, I wasn’t totally serious! I know you had the best intentions. 🆒 So what exactly is coming out of the rockfish’s mouth? It looks pretty solid and they look different from the fish innards I’m used to seeing. ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/58 "2007-04-17T06:41:53Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] Surely the [toad](http://www.scottsbt.com/fishids/idcom/phoystc1.gif)[fish](http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Toadfish/toadfish%20mouth%20wwm.jpg) and the [sea](http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00946/pic_used/sea_lamprey.jpg) [lamprey](http://www.ryanphotographic.com/images/JPEGS/Geotria%20australis%20New%20Zealand%20lamprey.jpg) and the [stone](http://budak.blogs.com/the_annotated_budak/images/stonefish_front)[fish](http://home.datacomm.ch/renebu/stonefish.jpg) must have spots somewhere in the top ten. [/QUOTE] The stonefish looks comical. Now, the lamprey… My toes literally curled and I had to look away. Too much teeth! :eek: I could swear I’ve seen fictional aliens in film and pictures that had that same mouth! ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960/59 "2007-04-17T21:30:20Z")
[QUOTE=Kotick] Here’s the [blob sculpin](http://www.mbari.org/news/news_releases/2003/nr05-drazen-images.html) in situ. Actually quite handsome, don’t you think? (scroll down the page a bit) [/QUOTE] Awwww! it IS cute! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-uglier-fish/399960.md?page=2)