Ugliest fish in the world: Here’s why saving odd-looking species from extinction is crucial

euronews.com:

Ugly fish need love too, scientists are urging.

From the effortlessly elegant angel fish to the objectively hideous blob fish, marine life comes in all shapes and sizes.

But the ugly ducklings of the underwater kingdom are under threat. According to new research, humans might not care about the odd-looking species enough to save them from extinction.

So why are we so superficial?

By surveying 13,000 people, academics from the University of Montpellier in France ranked more than 2400 reef fish on aesthetic value.

They found that the ugliest fish were the most at risk of dying out - yet they were also the most ecologically important.

“There is a need for us to make sure that our ‘natural’ aesthetic biases do not turn into a bias of conservation effort,” says Nicolas Mouquet, one of the lead study authors.

“Our study highlights likely important mismatches between potential public support for conservation and the species most in need of this support.”

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - but there are some fish only a mother could love.

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The ‘Drab Sole’ (Achirus achirus) and ‘telescope fish’ (Gigantura chuni) probably aren’t winning any beauty contests.

But like the other ‘ugly’ fish ranked by researchers, they’re very important to underwater ecosystems.

To determine which fish were unattractive, a poll of thousands quizzed respondents on the aesthetic value of 480 ray-finned reef fish.

By feeding this data into an algorithm, the research team was able to predict aesthetic ratings for more than 2,417 fish.

Bright, colourful fish species with rounded bodies - like angel fish, clown fish, and parrot fish - received the most favourable responses.

However, these more ‘beautiful'