Batfish look as if they have been half run over. The front end, just behind the head, has a flattened, almost squashed appearance, while the back end is almost round.
Such an unusual combination of body shapes hardly makes
batfish look elegant or streamlined. However, over countless generations they have evolved features that suit them perfectly for their way of life. The batfish lifestyle is firmly linked to the sea floor, where they lie in wait for their meals to come to them.
Batfish can swim, but do not swim well. They spend most of their time either not moving at all, or “walking” on the bottom, using their limblike pectoral (chest) fins and pelvic (hip) fins as arms and legs.
