Ugly fish blob2/7/2024 ![]() ![]() Instead, blobfish have a lot of white muscle, which allows them to swim in short bursts and lunge at prey that on occasion ramble by. They have very little red muscle, the kind that allows you, a human, to run a mile or a tuna fish to migrate across oceans. In case you hadn't guessed, blobfishes aren't exactly yoked. Just watery tissue, some yellow pockets of fat, and a smidgen of muscle. Narrator: If all you do is sit, you don't need much under your skin. Stein: It just sits there and waits for dinner to come by. The predator has a highly specialized hunting strategy that's perfect for the rocky barrens of the deep sea. Narrator: So, the Jell-O layer isn't a perfect substitute, but the blobfish doesn't need to be a strong swimmer. A fish that lives on the bottom doesn't need to be able to maintain its buoyancy. They can secrete gas into the swim bladder or remove it. Stein: And fishes that have swim bladders are able to adjust their buoyancy. Narrator: This water-filled, Jell-O-like layer allows the blobfish to stay somewhat buoyant, which is important because blobfishes don't have a swim bladder. Stein: If you pick up a blobfish by the tail, then it kind of flows to the head. Under their skin, blobfish have a thick layer of gelatinous flesh that floats outside their muscles. Blobfish look blobby because they are full of water. Narrator: This is David Stein, a deep-sea-fish biologist who was lucky enough to dissect 19 blobfishes in the 1970s. So, what is all that water pressure holding together?ĭavid Stein: Between the skin, that flabby skin, and the muscles is a lot of fluid. Same old fish, but with a little more support. But drop this fellow 9,200 feet below sea level, and the water holds up all that flab like a push-up bra, making the fish a little more handsome. On land, he's got a body like Jell-O and a big old frown. Narrator: This creature was crowned the world's ugliest animal in 2013, a title it still defends today. The illustrations are incredible with personality and humor oozing from the pages.Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. “An insightful tale about beauty and self worth. A subtle and charming French import with a great sense of humor.” -Lisa Nowlain, Nevada County Community Library, School Library Journal The lack of moralizing is refreshing, and the story is well paced and amusing. ![]() The small format and the long paragraphs give it a chapter book feel while still being short enough to read aloud. “Tallec's illustration style shines in this silly story through charcoal, paint, and pencil. There is also something profound in the questions it raises about our civilizational fascination with beauty and its counterpoint-what does it really mean to be ugly." -Maria Popova, Brain Pickings There is something charmingly subversive about the very premise, as paradoxical as the idea of trying to fail at failure. Under Tallec’s subtle brush, we see a difficult realization dawn on Blob-privilege is bestowed largely by chance and little of actual substance separates the most fortunate from the least fortunate. Blob comes alive as a sensitive creature of contradictions-full of determination yet easily given to dejection, a living fable of ego and insecurity, easy to fault but also easy to love. The illustrations by Tallec lend the humorous story a lovely dimension of tenderness. "An irreverent and insightful modern fable about beauty, ugliness, the paths to acceptance, and how admiration hijacks our sense of self. ★ Winner of the 2021 Prix Albertine Jeunesse for 6–8-year-old readers
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