How can something be so beautiful and so ugly at the same time?

Easy if you are broody Tasseled Anglerfish (Rhycherus filamentosus) and she (or is that he?) is being very motherly about that brood of babies being guarded.

Many northern hemisphere anglerfish could not care less about their eggs letting them float away in the ocean currents enshrouded in a gelatinous raft. For this reason their habitat and distribution cover vast areas.

Our Tasseled Anglerfish on the other hand guards its young until they hatch when they will simply sink to the bottom (according to Rudi Kuter) and make their home in the nooks and crevices of the local habitat. For this reason the Tasseled Anglerfish is unique to the Southern Australian coastline.

Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Day 637, Motherly Love’ 1/160s f/16 ISO640 100mm