Red-Lipped Batfish's Bizarre Look Explained
Scientists explain the evolutionary reasons for the red-lipped batfish's strange 'feet' and red lips, though much of its life remains a mystery.
The red-lipped batfish, a shallow-water dweller near the Galápagos Islands, is considered one of the world's weirdest-looking fish. Its bizarre features include bright red lips, leg-like fins with elbows, and a horn on its face, prompting questions about its evolution.
According to a report from Defector, the fish is an internet celebrity, featured in outlets like The Guardian and the BBC, but those stories rarely explain its anatomy. The species was first described in 1958 by ichthyologist Carl Leavitt Hubbs, who has been dead for nearly 50 years, leaving a gap in specialized knowledge.
The Anglerfish Family Tree
With no dedicated batfish experts, the report turned to researchers who study its broader family. The red-lipped batfish is technically an anglerfish, belonging to the order Lophiiformes. Elizabeth Santos, a researcher at Ohio State University, explained that batfishes are not uniquely strange.
"Batfish look like that because all Lophiiformes look like that in some capacity," Santos stated. "This implies that 'being weird' evolved long before the batfish, at the common ancestor of all Lophiiformes." Their closest relatives include pufferfishes and sunfishes. All anglerfishes have modified pelvic fins that act as "feet"for balance and movement on the seafloor. The batfish's lure is hidden under a horn, unlike the dangling lures of deep-sea anglers."There is some evidence that when your gill openings become small holes, it frees up the rest of the body to evolve in new ways,"she said. This may explain how such weirdness is possible, if not the specific reasons."It is the beauty of nature."He does not know why the lips are scarlet, noting other fish have lips of different colors."Some said that they walk and save the energy, and I agree," he said. He pushed back on the idea the batfish is exceptionally weird. "Flatfishes are even more weird to me,"he added. Little is known about the red-lipped batfish's natural history, including its lifespan or mating habits."In one case, they eat a snake eel," Ho said, referring to a large burrowing eel. "That is incredible."
A Legacy of Obscure Study
Ho was drawn to the species partly because its scientific name, Ogcocephalus darwini, honors Charles Darwin. The fish's original describer, Carl Hubbs, is considered a founder of American fish taxonomy. The batfish expert who followed him was Margaret Bradbury, who retired in 1994.
Ho visited Bradbury in 2005 while working on his doctoral dissertation. She shared her data sheets and photos, which Ho said prevented many mistakes. They discussed the taxonomy of very flat pancake batfishes. When Bradbury passed away in 2010, Ho became the world's leading batfish expert. In 2013, he named a Tanzanian batfish species Malthopsis bradburyae after her, recognizing her contribution and friendship. That species, he notes, also looks really weird.
