Wonderful Wednesday everyone!! Today we're focusing on hagfish!! One of the most hard to biologically classify animals in the deep. On suggestion from Mason.
The hagfish, known by many names and few lovers, is an amazing fish. This is due to the fact we are unsure we can consider them a fish due to their strangeness. The hagfish is a deep sea, eel shaped animal that is known for its lack of bones. Known by names such as the Myxini family (also sometimes known within scientific communities as Hyperotreti), it is also referred to as slime eels. However within practical communication the name most commonly used is hagfish.
The first exceptional thing about the hagfish is that they are the only animal in the world to possess a skull but no spine. This is something we have seen nowhere else. Their closest relatives are lampreys, another jawless, showing how their family split off . However, where lampreys are well known by humans due to their homes being found often in lakes and rivers. Hagfish live in the deep of the ocean, leaving them most unencountered and disturbed.
Hagfish slime is another one of their wonderful traits. As a defense against predators hagfish are known for producing massive amounts of slippery and sticky slime. The intent of this slime is to clog up the gills of attacking fish and keep them from preying upon themselves. This is extremely effective, being known to even kill sharks, by clogging the throat. This is doable mainly because of the expanding nature of this slime. In less than a second it can expand outward in frightening speed out of about a hundred miniscule holes along their body.
Another strange feature of the hagfish is the mouth. Filled with rows of teeth upon two plates, the hagfish has no jaw. They instead use their mouth in an almost scooping motion to pull food towards their throat and grind prey.
Hagfish use their lack of spines to their advantage, tying their own bodies into knots regularly to gain leverage well tearing apart prey..They also do this if their initial release of slime does not free them from predators. Being only about 20 inches they are preyed on by larger deep sea animals regularly. Even when their first sliming doesn't work they are known to tie themselves into knots to scrape slime onto predators a second time and force themselves free. However, when the sliming does work to block the gills and throats of various predators, it can also block the gills of the hagfish itself. Tying into a knot has a third use then to clear the slime off themselves and clear the gills.
This just goes to show how cool the hagfish truly is! I hope you've come to love them as I do!
I hope everyone has an amazing Wednesday, and I hope you enjoyed the hagfish!