Red Lipped Batfish

Meet the red lipped batfish, one of the world's most strange animals! This is truly the weirdest and unusual fish known to human kind. Why? Just have a look (if you haven't already) in the photo down below:

The species (Ogcocephalus Darwini) is bottom dwelling and occurs exclusively on the sandy floors around the Galapagos Islands. As you can see, its most distinctive trait is the bright red lips it has. And not just slight red, but super red, juicy, lipstick tainted lips ! What's the purpose of these lips is unknown, but some scientists say that they are used to attract the opposite sex during courtship. Who knows! Maybe it's just a random evolutionary thingie!

Wish I could see one in person!!

Another crazy and unique thing about them is that their pectoral fins are modified and somehow stiff and they use them to walk or sit on the bottom! Yes they can swim, but clumsily and only for small distances.

Individuals may be up to 25 cm long, and can be sighted at depths of 30 meters (100 feet.) or greater. Their color ranges from a creamy-beige to emerald green. Another interesting thing is their prolonged snout, that is used to attract prey like small fish, shrimps and mollusks.

Did I mention that it is also known as the Galapagos batfish? For anyone interested, this is the scientific classification of the red-lipped batfish:

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii

Order: Lophiiformes

Family: Ogcocephalidae

Genus: Ogcocephalus

Species: O. Darwini

Fortunately, the red-lipped batfish is here to stay! It has no known threats and it resides on a protected area, away from any detrimental human activities. Yay!

Here are a few related links for further information:

• Strange Animals: Red-lipped batfish
• EOL: Rosy Lipped Batfish - The rosy lipped batfish is a similarly looking and closely related species. Don't confuse the two!