Affectionately known as Mr Blobby, the creature grows to about 12 inches (30 cm) long and is the official mascot of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society.

The blobfish has a bulbous head and loose, flabby skin. It lives in the deep sea, mainly off the southeastern coast of mainland Australia, the Australian island of Tasmania and New Zealand.

The Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust conducted the annual poll where the fish won almost 1,300 out of more than 5,500 votes, according to Sky News.

The animal overcame a late surge in support to overtake the endangered orange roughy, another deep sea dweller, by nearly 300 votes.

Blobfish, when brought to the surface where the water pressure isn’t high enough to allow them to maintain their shape, they morph into mushy creatures with an unfortunate appearance.

The trust’s co-director, Kim Jones, described the competition as “a battle of two quirky deep sea critters, with the blobfish’s unconventional beauty helping get voters over the line”.

The “ugliest” animal also benefitted from the backing of two New Zealand radio hosts, Sarah Gandy and Paul Flynn, who encouraged the public to vote for the blobfish.

“We and the people of New Zealand had had enough of other fish getting all the headlines,” the broadcasters said.

They said the animal “has been bullied his whole life and we thought, ‘stuff this, it’s time for the blobfish to have his moment in the sun,’ and what a glorious moment it is!”