Red-Lipped Batfish – A Bearded, Walking Fish With Bright Red Lips and a Bioluminescent Horn

Paleontologist Danielle Dufault of Animalogic investigated the unique physiology of the red-lipped batfish, noting its bright scarlet lips, beard, bioluminescent horn, and a strange ability to walk rather than swim. 

This is one of the weirdest fish in the world there’s no doubt about it. They have weirdly human red lips, fins for legs, a beard and bioluminescent parts.

Dufault further explains how this unusual combination of features allows the red-lipped batfish to hide, hunt, and reproduce in the Mesopelagic zone near the Galapagos Islands, though much still remains unknown about them.

We have to admit that there are a few reasons why it’s so hard to study them. They are sometimes seen in waters as shallow as 3 meters, but most of their range is below where most divers can go. Even if you were to swim near them, unless you shine a bright light on them, it’s most likely that you’d completely miss them due to their colorization and texture; they just look like a rock or a coral 

The Life of a Red-Lipped Batfish

via swissmiss