Save the blobfish!

By Michael J.W. Stickings

This creature, the blobfish, was voted the official mascot of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society, and so may be considered the ugliest animal in the world.

Yes, this will hopefully aid in its preservation. It's not just the cute animals, after all, endangered or otherwise, that deserve our attention and support.

The bizarre creature lives off the coast of south-eastern Australia and Tasmania, at depths of between 600 and 1,200m, where atmospheric pressure is several dozen times higher than at sea level.

Its gelatinous body is just slightly more dense than water, and it spends its life "bobbing around" in the depths.

It feeds on crabs and lobsters and so suffers a significant threat from fishing trawlers. Although it is inedible itself, it gets caught up in the nets.