Yes. Blobfish have bones, but their skeleton is unusually soft and weakly mineralized—so it is more cartilage-like than the firm skeleton many people picture. Blobfish are deep-water teleost fish, not sharks or rays, and their familiar collapsed look is largely a result of being brought to the surface.
What kind of skeleton does a blobfish have?
Blobfish belong to the psychrolutid family of deep-water fishes, within the teleost lineage. Teleosts are bony fish: unlike sharks and rays, which have skeletons made of cartilage, they have bony skeletal elements. The Australian Museum describes psychrolutids as having “soft, mostly cartilaginous, decalcified bones.” That means “boneless” is not accurate, even though the bones are much less firm than those of many familiar fish.
The Australian Museum’s profile of Psychrolutes microporos includes microCT scans of a specimen, which show that internal skeletal anatomy is present. The scans document a specimen, rather than establishing a bone count for every blobfish species.
Why are a blobfish’s bones so soft?
Blobfish have a reduced skeleton with fewer and weaker bones, alongside soft tissues rich in water and fat. These traits suit life in deep water, where the surrounding pressure is high. Their flexible body and soft skeletal support are adapted to that environment rather than to holding a firm shape in air.
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There is no dependable species-wide total bone count or measured mineralization percentage established in the cited sources. The supported description is qualitative: blobfish have bones, but they are weak, soft, and largely cartilage-like.
Why does a blobfish look like a blob at the surface?
The familiar drooping appearance is not the normal look of a living blobfish at depth. Its body is adapted to deep-water pressure; when the fish is brought to the much lower pressure at the surface, its soft tissues do not maintain the same shape. The South African Department of Basic Education also notes that blobfish lack swim bladders and have loose skin over flexible, scaleless bodies, features that do not preserve a firm outline out of water.
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Preservation can change the appearance further. The Australian Museum reports that fixation tightened the skin and shrank the nose of its preserved specimen. So the well-known image reflects both the change from deep-water conditions and what happened to the fish after capture—not simply what a healthy fish looks like in its habitat.
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How blobfish compare with other fish
| Fish group | Skeleton | What that means for body support | Surface appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blobfish and other psychrolutids | Bony fish with soft, mostly cartilaginous, decalcified bones, according to the Australian Museum. | Reduced skeletal support combines with soft, water- and fat-rich tissue; the body is suited to deep water. | Its shape can sag after it is brought to the surface; preservation may alter it further. |
| Sharks and rays | Cartilage rather than bone, as explained by the Australian Museum. | They are cartilaginous fish, not teleost bony fish. | Not established in the cited sources. |
| Other teleosts | Skeletons made of bone, according to the Australian Museum. | They share the broad bony-fish classification with blobfish; the cited sources do not provide a direct comparison of skeletal firmness across teleost species. | Not established in the cited sources. |
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