The red-lipped batfish

Next to its mouth, the second most important thing about the red-lipped batfish is that although it lives in water, it is not a strong swimmer. As a human who hasn’t yet perfected on-land movement, I find this to be a relatable characteristic. The batfish’s body is built like an airplane (or maybe a bat — hence its name). It has both pectoral and pelvic fins, which it uses to scurry clumsily along the ocean floor, and a "small fleshy anal fin" underneath its tail, like a propellor. The underside of its body is covered in bony scales, and its tail is glazed with little thorns. And that thing in the middle of its face that looks, if I’m being honest, like male genitalia, is actually an horn covered in little hairs, called an illicium. It’s a retractable appendage (common for anglerfish) that the fish uses like a lure to attract prey.