In nature we find truly curious beings and the aquatic environment is no exception, as it is full of strange, truly surprising fish. Fish are ectothermic, gill-breathing, and primarily aquatic vertebrate animals. with bodies usually covered by scales. There are freshwater and saltwater, being able to live both in places with little water and in streams or in the deepest areas of the ocean. This time we want to focus on the rarest fish in the world.
And it is that the variety that mother nature presents us is amazing and infinite. It is estimated that there are an average of 20,000 species of fish in the seas and oceans of the entire world. There are some that are fished as food for people, others that are ornamental and others that love to dive to the greatest depths, without being seen. Today in Supercurioso we want to discover the 20 rarest fish in the world. We are sure that they will surprise you. And if, in addition, you want to know more about them, do not miss our entry on the curiosities of the fish that you will love to know.
The 20 rarest fish in the world. amazing!
1. The Blurfish
We start our tour of the world’s strange fish with the curious blur fish, also known as drop fish. This marine animal has been declared the ugliest in the world (Here you can see which are the firm candidates to take the title of “The ugliest animal in the world”). It lives in the depths between the coasts of Tasmania and Australiabetween 600 and 1,200 meters away from the surface.
Your body resists great pressure, and It is a kind of gelatinous mass that allows you to float in the water without having to swim.. It measures about 30 cm. when it reaches adulthood and is undoubtedly one of the curious fish that we can find in the oceans. You can discover many other interesting facts in our entry about the Blurred Fish.
2. The Frogfish or Frogfish
The next of the rarest fish in the world is the peculiar frogfish, quite unpleasant in appearance. The main curiosity of this fish that lives in the coastal waters of Chile and Peru is that It has a huge head and ventral fins with suckers that allow it to hook onto rocks. It has no scales and its meat is highly prized.
3. The Horned Boxfish
The horned boxfish is also called the cowfish or bullfish due to the horns that protrude from its head.. It is the characteristic that makes it one of our favorite strange fish. They live about 50 cm. of the surface in very diverse seas and oceans, especially in coral reefs. Adults are solitary and territorial and if they become stressed they release a toxin that is poisonous to other fish.
Besides the horns, what makes them rare fish is that the mating of these animals only happens moments before or after sunset. They are such slow animals that they can be fished by hand and when caught this way they produce a noise similar to a growl.
4. The long-nosed filefish
The longnose filefish is another of the rarest fish in the world, and just look at its cute appearance to know why. It lives in the eastern half of the US and in some tributaries of the Amazon River. It measures between 60 cm. and 200 cm. Y It is also known as alligator fish because its elongated snout looks like that of a crocodile.
5. The Koran Angelfish
It is a marine fish that lives in coral reefs. It is oval and has a laterally compressed body. Its color varies with age and its main characteristic is the white letter «C» that is clearly drawn on the back of the body of the young specimens, and that consecrates it as one of the most interesting strange fish.
6. The Stone Fish
The stonefish is one of the rarest and most poisonous fish in the world. It inhabits tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans. The spines of its fins contain a very powerful neurotoxin. Direct contact with these spines can be fatal to humans if action is not taken quickly. Its name is due to the fact that its camouflage makes it similar to the appearance of a stone.
7. The Magnificent Frogfish
Another of the most interesting curious fish is the magnificent frogfish. It is an endemic animal of the island of Cozumel, Mexico, and unlike other frogfish it has magnificent colors. His eyes are located on the top of his head as it is in that area where they are useful.
8. The banner fish of the Red Sea
We add to our list of the rarest fish in the world the banner fish of the Red Sea. It is an endemic species of these waters. They are usually monogamous and in each spawning they release between 3,000 and 4,000 eggs. Due to their colors and butterfly appearance they are highly appreciated in the aquarium hobby.
9. The Oranda Fish
Another of the strange fish is the oranda fish. It is a type of gold carp originating from China o Japan. Her name “oranda” is a deformation of “Holland”, since it was believed that she came from that country. Its most notable feature and what makes it appear on this list of curious fish is the prominence or “hood” that grows on its head. This bulge takes between 1 and 2 years to fully develop. The oranda fish has a wide variety of colors.
10. The Siamese Fighting Fish
Native to Southeast Asia, the Siamese Fighting Fish or Betta Fish is a freshwater species. It is characterized by its bright colors and large fins. When two males meet they will open their fins and attack each other very aggressively and when a male finds a female he will start a curious dance by spreading his fins to attract her attention and mate. If the female is interested, vertical bars of different colors will appear on her body. The male creates a bubble nest in which the female will deposit the eggs and then take care of them.
11. The Ambo Scorpion Fish
Another of the rarest fish in the world is the ambo scorpion. They live in all tropical water seas and there are also some freshwater species. Some of the most poisonous fish in the world belong to this family and they usually have their heads covered with spines and crests.. The ambo scorpion is the only species in the genus Pteroidichthys. An expert at camouflage, it has poisonous stingers on its back, and its venom can be lethal to humans.
12. The Mandarin Fish
One of our favorites among the rarest fish in the world is the beautiful Mandarin. It is native to the Pacific and has a fantastic coloration. The body is covered with a kind of slightly toxic and foul-smelling fatty film that it uses to ward off predators.
13. The Sunfish
The sunfish or “mola mola” is the heaviest bony fish among the fish in the world. The average weight exceeds a ton and they can measure up to 3 meters. They live in the seas all over the planet. It feeds basically on gelatinous zooplankton such as jellyfish. Its meat is highly appreciated in some countries, but it is prohibited in the European Union.
14. The Lionfish
This specimen that we count among the strange fish in the world, belongs to the family of the scorpaenidae or scorpions. They are nocturnal hunters and live especially in the coastal lagoons and reefs of the Pacific Ocean. and the tropical zone of the Indian Ocean. It is distinguished by hunting at night and having a poisonous sting for man, although not fatal.
15. Parrotfish
They live in coral reefs in warm waters. Its official name is “scaridae” which comes from the Greek word “skairos” which means “jump”. since with the tail they jump and hit. Its popular name “parrot fish” comes from the peculiarity that makes us include it in this list of rare fish. Their teeth are grouped and fused in packages in such a way that they form structures similar to the beak of parrots.
16. Discus Fish
Charming and beautiful among the rarest fish in the world, it is the discus fish, which usually inhabits the lower parts of the Amazon. It has a rounded and flattened shape. His body is covered with 9 stripes that appear or disappear depending on his mood. The eyes are red.
17. The pink fish with hands
The pink handfish belongs to a family of rare fish called “brachyonychids” and it really earns its place among the rarest fish in the world very well. Its most striking feature is that They move along the seabed using two fins as if they were hands. The pink-handed fish species lives in southern Tasmania and Australia. It was discovered by a French explorer in 1802 and so far only 4 specimens have been studied.
18. The Wood-Eating Catfish
This is another of the strange fish that inhabit our planet, in this case in the tropical forests of the Amazon River. There are 10 species of xylophagous catfish, that is, they eat wood, being one of the very few vertebrates that get their food in this way. Its body is covered by a very hard skin that forms an armor. Its mouth is designed to crush the wood and to be able to engulf it.
19. The Long-nosed Chimera
We add to the list of curious fish the long-nosed chimera, which belongs to the family of “chimeras” and receives this name because its appearance seems to include characteristics of different animals: its head is a bump, its mouth looks like that of a rabbit, and its tail that of a rat. The long-nosed chimera has an especially long snout.
20. The Black Gobbler
And we close our tour of the rarest fish in the world with the black swallower. This fish inhabits the deep waters of the temperate zones of the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is black in color and has no scales. Its most important characteristic and what makes it one of the strange fish that we wanted to show you is his stomach. It can expand to accommodate animals larger than itself. When digestion is finished, it returns to its normal state. When they have been captured dead, it is usually because their stomachs have exploded.
The world is full of rare animals and the universe of the oceans, seas and rivers is also full of specimens that never cease to amaze us. And you, Did you know the rarest fish in the world? Do you know of other equally curious species? Share it with us so we can expand this list! If you want to know other rare marine animals, we invite you to read our article about rare marine animals that you may not have known about. See you in an upcoming supercurious article!