Blobfish Crowned World's Ugliest Animal

The votes are in. With a face only a mother could love (and only then if you were a blobfish mother), the blobfish has been elected by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society (previously at Neatorama) as the world's ugliest animal. As such, the fish will now represent the society as its mascot.

"This is one of the funniest fish faces in the ocean, although you're not likely to see a blobfish since they live in very deep water off Australia. In fact, it's pretty rare for anyone to see blobfish, although they're sometimes taken in nets hauled in by Australia's deepwater fishing fleet. They really do look like a big, blobby tadpole, just a mass of pale, jelly-like flesh with puffy, loose skin, a big nose, and beady, staring eyes. But looking like a floppy water balloon is what actually helps the blobfish make a living. This guy just sort of floats above the sea floor so it doesn't have to spend a lot of energy swimming around, sort of like when you float in the water wearing a life jacket.

The blobfish beat out the axolotl, the proboscis monkey, the dung beetle, and several other hideous creatures. Link -via Metafilter

(Image credit: NOAA)