This Animal Has Been Voted the 'Ugliest' of Them All

Some would say it's so ugly, it's cute. Others would maintain it's just plain ugly.

The blobfish was voted to be an endangered species awareness group's mascot. (Photo: Grufnik/Flickr)

The fish that looks a bit like a cartoonish old man with fins has officially been voted through the Ugly Animal Preservation Society as the ugliest of the ugly of animals it seeks to protect.

The U.K. group is "dedicated to raising the profile of some of Mother Nature’s more aesthetically challenged children.  The panda gets too much attention."

The voting process included six acts by comedians who would "humorously champion an endangered ugly species of their choice and convince the audience that their animal should become the society’s emblem."

Here is the video short about the group made by a U.K. science festival:

The group claims thousands of people voted and made Psychrolutes marcidus the mascot.

The society seeks to raise awareness about the "vast majority" of animals on the planet that are ugly and worth protecting. (Photo: jamasca66/Flickr)

The fish, according to NOAA, belongs to a family commonly called fatheads. Generally, it's a deep sea fish found off the coast of Australia.

"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," NOAA's WeirdFins stated. "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."

Watch the society's comedic announcement about its new mascot:

The Ugly Animal Preservation Society seems to be focused on endangered species awareness and says it can be booked for shows in the U.K. Watt, its president, is also working with National Schools Partnership to make educational films and challenges.

"We tend to be dull in what we consider beautiful," Watt said in one of his educational videos. "And only seem to care about cute, fluffy animals, usually mammals. Creatures that, like us, have hair and are warm-blooded and have faces. We're a bit egotistical like that and seem to only care about the things that are a bit like us."

Here are a few more of Watt's videos for students:

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(H/T: Popular Science)

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