• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Pucker Up – It’s Time To Meet The Red-Lipped Batfish Of The Galápagos

February 10, 2025 by Deborah Bloomfield

We all know the ocean is full of a whole host of weird-looking creatures, from flying buttocks and sea pigs to the plethora of strange species living in vents deep in the ocean. Now, we’re taking a close look at another ocean oddity – time to pucker up for the red-lipped batfish (Ogcocephalus darwini).

ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE

While the red-lipped batfish is related to 60 or so other batfish species, this one is especially unique. Found only in the waters of the Galápagos Islands, red-lipped batfish wear their permanently grumpy expressions on those bright red lips of theirs while they eat other smaller fish and crustaceans.

Nobody knows the reason why the red-lipped batfish has red lips, though some believe that it aids in the batfish being able to recognize species of the same type in the dark world at the bottom of the sea, helping to attract mates.

However, we do know how they go about getting a hold of prey. They are a member of the fish order Lophiiformes, which are more commonly known as anglerfish. Like other members of this group, the batfish has a special appendage on top of its head called an illicium, which has another structure at its top called an esca; this can emit light or excrete a liquid that can lure in prey.

As for the rest of its body, the red-lipped batfish can grow to between 25 to 40 centimeters (9.8 to 15.7 inches) and is found around 3 to 76 meters (9.8 to 249.3 feet) down under the surface of the waves – or even deeper, at around 120 meters (393.7 feet), at the edge of reefs.

Living on the bottom of the sea, the batfish doesn’t really swim but instead “walks” using modified fins along the sand. However, the batfish can swim if it chooses, using its tail to power it more speedily through the water.

Red-lipped batfish are also considered a species of Least Concern by the IUCN and have no known specific threats, although the Galapagos Conservation Trust says that “rising sea temperatures and coral bleaching could pose a threat, as it will alter their natural habitat and may cause a decline in the availability of their natural food source.”

ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE

And to end on a fun fact: the second part of the red-lipped batfish’s scientific name is darwini, in honor of Charles Darwin. Darwin explored the Galápagos Islands aboard HMS Beagle, eventually writing On the Origin of Species and realizing his theory of evolution.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Going after social commerce for sportspeople, Millions gets $10M
  2. Soccer-Table-toppers Napoli recover to maintain perfect start
  3. Simulation Reveals How Extraterrestrial Civilizations Might Spread Across The Universe
  4. Beneath The Middle East, An Ancient Seabed Is Splitting From The Continental Plates

Source Link: Pucker Up – It's Time To Meet The Red-Lipped Batfish Of The Galápagos

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Hui Te Rangiora: Old Māori Legend Suggests They May Have Discovered Antarctica 1,000 Years Before Europeans
  • “Potential Impact On Saturn”: Astronomers Appeal For Help As Video Appears To Show Object Hitting The Gas Giant
  • What Is Prosopometamorphopsia? The “Exceedingly Rare” Condition That Made A Patient See Faces As Dragons
  • Are We In An Enormous Void? It Could Explain What’s Wrong With Our Model Of The Universe
  • Woylies Boing Back Into Western Australia Thanks To Groundbreaking Wildlife Project
  • North America’s Oldest Pterosaur And Turtle Fossils Found In Arizona’s Petrified Forest
  • Proposed “Dark Dwarfs” Near The Galactic Center Could Reveal The Nature Of Dark Matter
  • Watch: 18-Kilometer-High Ash Cloud Looms Over Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki After “Explosive” Eruption
  • “ShipGoo001”: Mystery Of Entirely New Lifeform Discovered Coating A Great Lakes Ship
  • Rare White Humpback Whale Calf Filmed By Drone Off Australia’s East Coast
  • Who Was Buried At Cave Of Salome: A Female Disciple, Jesus’ Midwife, Or A Princess?
  • “Hidden” Changes To US Health Data Swapping “Gender” For “Sex” Spark Fears For Public Trust
  • Easter Island Was Never As Isolated As We Thought – Study Puts That “Strange Argument” To Bed
  • If Birds Are Dinosaurs, Why Are None As Big As T. Rexes?
  • Psychologists Demonstrate Illusion That Could Be Screwing Up Our Perception Of Time
  • Why Are So Many Enormous Roman Shoes Being Discovered At Hadrian’s Wall?
  • Scientists Think They’ve Pinpointed Structural Differences In Psychopaths’ Brains
  • We’ve Found Our Third-Ever Interstellar Visitor, Orcas Filmed Kissing (With Tongues) In The Wild, And Much More This Week
  • The “Eyes Of Clavius” Will Be Visible On The Moon Today, Thanks To Clair-Obscur Effect
  • Shockingly High Microplastic Levels Found On Remote Mediterranean Coral Reef Island
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version