Scariest Fishes In The World - Top 8

No fish is as mythical as the South American piranha. Many of the myths may be exaggerated, but truth is that piranhas really are unusually bloodthirsty omnivores with startlingly sharp teeth.

7. Atlantic Wolffish

The Atlantic wolffish - also known as catfish, seacat or simply wolffish - is a species that lives at the bottom of cold oceans in the northern hemisphere and can grow to 2 m (7 ft 6 in) in length.^[1] They have characteristically massive jaws with pointy teeth in the front and blunt, crushing, teeth in the back. A wolffish does not actually eat other fish, instead the fangs are specially adapted for crabs, starfishes, sea urchins and other similar prey that are hard to digest.^[1] Wolffish is a popular food fish and unfortunately threatened by over-fishing and bycatch.

6. Snakehead

Snakeheads are a family of predatory fishes that live in African and Asian freshwaters and can grow to 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) in length.^[2] Not only do they look like snakes, they can also breathe air and survive for longer periods on land.

5. Goblin Shark

The goblin shark is characterized by its long snout and highly extensible jaws. It lives in many of Earth's oceans, but since it dwells in deep waters it is rarely seen by humans. Therefore, little is known about how the goblin shark lives and breeds. Fortunately, it is not classified as endangered. Lengths of 3.4 metres (11 feet) have been recorded.^[3]

4. Mooray Eel

Mooray eels are a family of eels who often are the most dangerous members of the neighborhood. They live in waters all around the world and usually lie in wait in holes for other fish. They only attack humans when disturbed, but then they can be quite vicious.^[4] The most startling species is the tiger reef-eel (photo) with its colorful body and long, glazed teeth.

3. Frilled Shark

The frilled shark lives in deep waters in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and is rarely observed alive. It dwells at depths down to 1,500 m (5,000 ft) and is occasionally taken as bycatch in deep-water commercial fisheries.^[5] The frilled shark has a peculiar snakelike body and lots of sharp teeth. The video shows a live frilled shark that was caught at the surface outside the coast of Japan in 2007. It was probably sick when it was found and sadly died after a couple of hours in captivity. Just like the goblin shark, the frilled shark is not classified as endangered, despite its rareness.

2. Blobfish

The blobfish lives outside Australia and Tasmania, between 600 and 1,200 m (2,000 and 4,000 ft) beneath the surface.^[6] To cope with the pressure at these depths its body is a jellylike mass without any real skeleton or even muscles. It doesn't have a swim bladder, since it would collapse under the extreme pressure.^[6] The blobfish is really more heartbreakingly ugly than scary - in 2013, it was voted the world's ugliest animal in an online poll set up by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society.^[6] Unfortunately, the blobfish is often taken as bycatch.

1. Anglerfish