Ugliest fish in Cornwall (From Falmouth Packet)

Ugliest fish in Cornwall

2:26pm Monday 6th July 2009

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More than 20 of the ugliest baby fish in Britain have gone on display at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay.

A shoal of captive-bred wolf fish are the latest attractions to go on show at the award-winning attraction.

Described as having a face that not even their own mothers could love, wolfish are normally found at depths between 100 and 300 metres in cold northern European waters.

Widely recognised as the most unattractive fish in Britain, the ferocious-looking creatures are a dull grey colour and have long, sharp front teeth which protrude outwards.

Blue Reef's David Waines said: “Our babies were captive bred at the MacDuff Marine Aquarium in Scotland.

“They are only a few weeks old and are actually giant members of the blenny family.

“It's very difficult to tell the sexes apart but we're obviously hopeful that there will be a good mix of males and females and that, at some stage in the future, we may be able to get them to breed,” he added.

Capable of living for 20 years or more, they can weigh up to 20kg and reach lengths in excess of 150 cm.

Despite their terrifying appearance the fish are not normally considered dangerous to humans - although there are some reports of unwary divers being attacked after straying too close to their rocky lairs.

The wolf fish’s awesome teeth are designed for crushing tough-shelled prey like clams, crabs, and sea urchins.

Wolf fish breed via internal fertilisation which is unusual for fish. They produce a huge egg mass containing thousands of individual eggs which they guard closely by coiling their bodies around the cluster.

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