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Freaky Fish Top 13

With Halloween right around the corner, we couldn’t think of a better time to pay homage to the creepy, crawly critters that are too bizarre to live on land. Hundreds of Oceana WaveMakers nominated their favorite freaky fish over the past few days and our resident freaky fish experts narrowed the list down to these 13 top contenders. But we need YOUR help to decide the freakiest!

Cast your vote for the freakiest fish out there by midnight, Monday, October 30 and the winner will be announced on Halloween. One lucky voter will be chosen at random to receive a big bag of candy for when your Halloween stash runs out.

Which fish do you think is the freakiest? Cast your vote now!

(click on images to enlarge)
 Blinky
This three-eyed monstrosity is a resident of Springfield. Many residents suspect its mutation is the result of the nearby nuclear power plant, but others (eg the plant’s owner Mr. Burns) claim it’s an "evolutionary step." Either way, it’s freaky!
 Blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus)
This fish could be Ziggy’s underwater cousin! The blobfish is made up almost entirely of a jelly substance and is too lazy to hunt prey. Instead, it sits patiently and waits for something edible to pass by....
 Candirú (Vandellia cirrhosa)
This fish, found only in the Amazon River, has a worse rep than the piranha! It grows only an inch long and its eel-like shape and translucence, make it almost impossible to see in the water. The Candirú is a parasite that feeds on the blood of its host. It is known to enter the orifices (yes, where you think) of human bathers and feed on the body tissue. It must be removed through an operation--ouch.
 Coelacanth (Coelia acanthos)
This fish has come back from the dead! It was thought to be extinct for many millions of years, until someone caught one off the coast of South Africa. Coelacanths hang head down in the water and use electrical current detection to find their prey.
 Fangtooth (Anoplogaster cornuta)
Believe it or not, this fish is all bark and no bite! Despite its impressive set of choppers, the fangtooth is actually quite small and harmless to humans. But it sure isn’t about to win any beauty contests.
 Goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni)
If a goblin and a shark mated, you may very well end up with something that looks like this! The long, creepy nose is quite goblin-esque, but those teeth are all shark. It’s hard to tell in the picture, but this shark is actually pink! Not sure who that comes from....
 Longnose Chimaera Pup (Rhinochimaera pacifica)
In Europe, they call this fish the Cyrano Chimaera, named after the fictional French character Cyrano de Bergerac, who had a very long nose (go figure!). But this pup puts his snozz to good use - scanning over the seafloor for the electrical impulses of its prey that bury in the muddy seafloor, just like a metal detector.
 Monkfish (Lophius americanus)
If most people knew what monkfish looked like before it ended up on their dinner plate, they may just think twice! Even freakier than it’s appearance? It’s mating habits. The male swims up behind the female, bites her in the side and hangs on. Then his mouth becomes fused to her body. His eyes and most all internal organs disappear, and the male becomes nothing more than a sperm factory bump on her side to fertilize her eggs.
 Oarfish (Regalecus glesne)
This fish is the inspiration for many a sea serpent tale! The occasional beachings of oarfish after storms, and their habit of lingering at the surface when sick or dying, have given sailors much to talk about. Their modern discovery traces back to 1808, when a 56-foot serpent-like creature washed ashore in Scotland.
 Northern Snakehead (Channa argus)
This fish is straight out of a low-budget 70s horror flick. Originally from Asia, this invasive species was accidentally introduced into a lake in Maryland in 2002. It proceeded to breed at an alarming rate and wiped out local species of fish. It has since moved on, able to travel across land by walking on their pectoral fins.
 Vampire Squid from Hell (Vampyroteuthis infernalis)
This clearly wins freakiest name, but is it the freakiest fish? Maybe! It has massive eyes, wing-like fins and tiny lights on it's body that it can flash for fractions of a second, or several minutes to disorient predators.
 Viperfish (Chauliodus sloani)
Don’t go into the light! Viperfish live at ocean depths where no sunlight reaches and lure their prey with bioluminescent organs. When the fish approach, it opens it mouth up to a 90 degree angle and swallows its prey whole.
 Wolf fish (Anarhichas lupus)
This fish is U-G-L-Y! Some species, such as the Atlantic wolf fish, will swallow the entire body of its prey, shells and all. The prey is then thoroughly chewed with its strong teeth to break it into digestible bits. Fishermen beware--the fish is even known to bite through wood.