Furriest fish

No fish is truly hairy as this is a unique characteristic to mammals. However, there are examples that appear furry. One of the top contenders for the title of "furriest" fish is an extraordinary but little-known species called Mirapinna esau ("hairy with wonderful fins"). Although first discovered in June 1911 when a specimen was caught at the surface of the mid-Atlantic Ocean about 880 km (547 miles) north of the Azores, it remained undescribed and unnamed by science until 1956. Mirapinna measures 6.35 cm (2.5 in) long, with a humped back and uniquely lobed fins, but its most striking characteristic of all is the apparent fur covering its body. When viewed closer, however, this "fur" is revealed to be a profuse mass of living body outgrowths, whose function remains unknown.

Another contender is the striated, or hairy, frogfish (Antennarius striatus), a type of anglerfish native to rocky seabed areas and reefs in the warm waters of the Indo-Pacific and Red Sea. Their skin is also covered in numerous skin appendages, or spinules. Although less dense than those of Mirapinna esaui, these appendages are much longer and help the fish to blend in with coral and seaweed.

Esau (the son of Isaac) is a hairy man in the Bible mentioned in the Book of Genesis.