Broadgilled hagfish facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Broadgilled hagfish |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: |
Eptatretus
|
| Species: |
E. cirrhatus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Eptatretus cirrhatus (J. R. Forster, 1801)
|
|
| Synonyms | |
|
|
.gif)
The broadgilled hagfish or New Zealand hagfish (Eptatretus cirrhatus) is a unique type of hagfish. You can find it in the waters around New Zealand and the Chatham Islands. It also lives near the south and east coasts of Australia. These fish can be found deep in the ocean, from 1 to 900 meters below the surface.
Contents
What Does the Broadgilled Hagfish Look Like?
The Eptatretus cirrhatus has a body shaped like an eel. It does not have a top fin, but its tail looks like a paddle. Their color is often grey-brown, sometimes with hints of pink or blue.
Like all hagfish, the New Zealand hagfish has a skull. However, it does not have a jaw or a true backbone. Instead, its skeleton is made of a soft material called cartilage.
Its round mouth is surrounded by six feelers called barbels. Above the mouth is a single nostril. Inside the mouth, there is a special dental plate. This plate has rows of tough, grasping teeth on each side.
The hagfish also has seven pairs of gill pouches. Along the lower sides of its body are many pores. These pores often have white rings around them. They are used to release a snot-like slime. This slime expands a lot when it touches seawater. Young hagfish are usually lighter in color.
Where Do Broadgilled Hagfish Live?
Global Ocean Home
Hagfish in general live all over the world in waters that are cooler than 22 degrees Celsius. The E. cirrhatus species lives in the western Pacific Ocean. Its range stretches down the east coast of Australia, from Queensland to Tasmania. It is also found all around New Zealand, from the North Cape to Snares Shelf. The Chatham Islands are also part of their home.
New Zealand's Coastal Waters
In New Zealand, E. cirrhatus lives in coastal areas. They are found on the ocean floor in shelf and slope regions. They are often seen near Kaikoura. You can also find them on underwater hills and banks out in the open ocean. Their New Zealand home includes the Chatham Islands.
Life Cycle and Reproduction
Scientists have studied how Eptatretus cirrhatus reproduces. They found no sign that these hagfish breed only at certain times of the year. Females with large eggs and those who had just laid eggs were found in all seasons.
It is thought that female hagfish start laying eggs when they are between 412mm and 534mm long. Males may not be ready to reproduce until they are about 585mm long. We don't know much about how long hagfish pregnancies last.
They have a low number of offspring. A hagfish might only produce 20-30 eggs every two or three years after it matures. The development of the embryos is also very slow. For some hagfish species, the early stages of development can take up to seven months.
Hagfish can be male, female, or even both (hermaphrodite). Research is still ongoing to understand how this works.
What Do Broadgilled Hagfish Eat?
E. cirrhatus are bottom feeders, meaning they eat food found on the ocean floor. They are known for eating their prey from the inside out. Their main diet is dead animals, called carrion. However, they also hunt and eat live animals.
Hagfish are very important for the ocean's health. They help recycle nutrients from dead animals that sink to the seabed. This keeps the ocean clean.
Hagfish are almost blind, but they can sense light. They use their six feelers around their mouths to move along the ocean floor. They also use their single nostril to smell out food.
Inside their mouths, hagfish have a special dental plate. This plate has rows of tough, grasping teeth. The dental plate folds to help the hagfish grab its food. It sticks out, grabs the prey's flesh, and then pulls back into the hagfish's mouth.
Hagfish can also use their slime to suffocate prey. However, this slime is mostly used for defense.
How Do Hagfish Defend Themselves?
The slime that E. cirrhatus produces is a great way to scare off predators. Marine mammals, sharks, and large fish hunt hagfish. But the hagfish's slime helps them fight back.
When a predator grabs a hagfish, the hagfish squirts slime. This slime quickly fills the predator's mouth and gill area. This makes the predator gag and let go of the hagfish. It also stops further attacks.
The slime is made in pores along the hagfish's sides. It contains special protein threads. These threads are coiled up inside cells. But when they are released into saltwater, they uncoil and expand. This is what makes the slime fill up so much space.
What's interesting is that hagfish don't seem bothered by being attacked. They just keep looking for food. Most animals would be more alert or try to hide after an attack. But hagfish keep eating, which helps them save energy.
Scientists also think the slime might protect hagfish from germs and parasites.
Uses of the Broadgilled Hagfish
Commercial Uses
In countries like Korea and Japan, hagfish are considered a tasty food. This has led to some small-scale fishing in New Zealand to supply this market. The skin of the hagfish is also used to make "eel skin leather."
There are not many rules for this fishing industry. This is because we don't know a lot about the hagfish's life cycle. It's hard to set rules when we don't know how many hagfish there are, or how fast they grow and reproduce. This makes people wonder if the industry is sustainable. Scientists are doing more research to learn about hagfish reproduction.
Other Interesting Uses
Scientists are also studying the protein fibers found in hagfish slime. Douglas Fudge, a scientist who studies hagfish slime, said that when the fibers dry, they become like silk. They are very thin and strong.
Hagfish slime has two parts: mucus and tiny fibers. These fibers are about 15cm long but only a micron wide. Scientists think these fibers could be a natural and renewable alternative to fabrics made from oil, like nylon.
No one has made a spool of hagfish thread yet. But Fudge and his team believe that in the future, these proteins could be used to make eco-friendly clothing, like athletic wear. Because they are so strong, they might even be used for things like bulletproof vests!
