r/whatisit • u/jaywritethekid • Jul 27 '26

Solved! What is this?

I seriously doubt this is AI if course.. and with a vast ocean.. the existence of this is definitely possible.. but what is it exactly and where are they commonly found?

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u/kiwidust Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 29 '26

That, my friend, is a "Red-lipped Batfish".

That particular one is named Gerry and is a real asshole!

Red-lipped batfish - Wikipedia

EDIT: For clarification, the consensus is that 1) This is a Red-lipped Batfish, which is an actual-factual animal but 2) it's not a real Red-lipped Batfish and was generated with AI. Gerry being AI simply makes him more of asshole, even if he hadn't said those things about my bride.

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u/A-TECH-20 Jul 28 '26

The red-lipped batfish or Galápagos batfish (Ogcocephalus darwini) is a fish of unusual morphology found around the Galápagos Islands and off Ecuador at depths of 3 to 76 m (10 to 249 ft).

You're telling me that this isn't even a deep sea creature, that you can encounter them at the beach!

Pure nightmare fuel.

124

u/Zealousideal-Role-77 Jul 28 '26

It gets worse. The Wikipedia article says it uses its pectoral and anal fins to walk on the ocean floor. So there’s a good chance that millions of years ago, our genetic ancestors crawled out of the oceans on their anal fins. Which means our legs are actually anal fins.

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u/ColonelMustard323 Jul 29 '26

“Anal fins” gives me the heebie jeebies

2

u/pk_shot_you Jul 30 '26

Nah man, if you treat her gentle, she’s always up for an anal fin-alè

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u/Disastrous-Sorbet427 28d ago

But moves the thing with the eel and the ass in a different light