D Tuesday, January 26, 2010 News Why the long face? Well, if you were facing extinction from over-fishing... Youd be miserable too And you thought you were having a rough day: The aptly named blobfish faces being wiped out as Australian trawlers scrape the bottom of the worlds deepest oceans Picture: Caters IS this the worlds saddest looking fish? Well, if you were a living gelatinous blob facing being torn away from your equally jelly-like family by a rogue trawlers net, you might not be so chipper either. The blobfish (yes, that is its real name) has gained something of a reputation as the worlds ugliest animal, thanks to a total lack of muscle which might make its human- like features more expressive. But the bloated bottom-dweller has reason to look down in the mouth, as over-fishing by trawlers now threat- ens to make the species extinct. The flexible fish can grow up to 30cm (12in) and lives at depths of 800m (2,600ft) in the waters off south-east Australia, so theyre not often seen by human eyes. But despite being inedible, the fleshy beast lives at the same depths as more appetising crabs and lobsters and gets dragged up with other catches. The deep sea is under threat from bottom trawling, one of the most destructive forms of fishing, said marine biologist Prof Callum Roberts. Blobfishareverylikelytobedragged up and from what we know, this fish is restricted to these waters only. With conservation efforts focused on protecting coral, the risk of blobfish extinction grows by the day. Were not sure of their ecological role but we know the world would be much less interesting without them. By Fred Attewill index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html