Hagfish facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hagfish |
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| Pacific hagfish resting on bottom 280 m depth off Oregon coast |
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| Scientific classification | |
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Myxini
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Myxiniformes
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Myxinidae
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Hagfish are ancient fish that live in the sea. They don't have a backbone, but they do have a skull made of soft material called cartilage. Even though they don't have a backbone like most fish, they are still called fish because they have fins and gills. They live only in the ocean.
For a long time, scientists debated if hagfish were true vertebrates (animals with backbones). But recent DNA studies show they are closely related to lampreys, another type of ancient fish without jaws.
Contents
What Hagfish Look Like
Hagfish are usually about half a meter (18 inches) long. They have long bodies that look a bit like an eel. Their eyes are small and don't work very well. Instead, hagfish use their strong senses of smell and touch to find food.
They have whiskers near their mouth called barbels. These barbels help them feel around in the dark ocean. Hagfish are also unique because they have four hearts and two brains.
How Hagfish Eat
Hagfish eat invertebrates, which are animals without backbones like worms. They are also scavengers, meaning they eat fish that are already dead or dying. Hagfish have four sets of teeth on their tongue. They use these tongue teeth to bite pieces of flesh from their food.
The teeth pinch together to hold onto the food. This helps them tear into dead or dying fish that have sunk to the bottom of the sea. Often, a hagfish will dig into a dead fish. They will then eat the insides of the dead fish. People usually only see hagfish when fishing nets pull them up from the sea floor.
Hagfish Slime
When hagfish feel scared, they make a lot of slime. This slime comes out of special pores on the sides of their body. They can make enough slime to completely fill a two-gallon bucket. This is amazing for such a small fish!
The slime comes out in thin strings. These strings quickly swell up and get much bigger when they touch water. Their unusual way of eating and their slime have made some people call the hagfish the most "disgusting" sea creature. Even though hagfish are sometimes called "slime eels," they are not eels at all.
Uses of Hagfish
Hagfish as Food
Hagfish are not usually eaten by people in most countries. However, one type of hagfish is popular food in Korea. This hagfish is known as kkomjangeo (꼼장어) or meokjango (먹장어) in Korean. It is also called Nuta-unagi in Japanese.
Hagfish Skin for Material
The skin of hagfish is used to make leather. This leather is then used to create things like wallets and belts. When this leather is sold, it is often called "eel skin."
Hagfish Slime for Science
Scientists are studying hagfish slime to see if they can use it to make new materials. The strings of protein in hagfish slime are thin and very strong. This makes them a useful material for research. Since it is not made from oil, hagfish slime could be more environmentally friendly than the plastics we use today.
Images for kids
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Kkomjangeo bokkeum (꼼장어 볶음), Korean stir-fried fish dish made with the hagfish Eptatretus burgeri.
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A bag made from eel skin.
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Two views of the hagfish (Myxini glutinosa) with analytical overlays and dissection, published 1905
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Pacific hagfish at 150 m depth, California, Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary
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An Atlantic hagfish (Myxine glutinosa) using its slime to get away from a kitefin shark (Dalatias licha) and an Atlantic wreckfish (Polyprion americanus).
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Pacific hagfish trying to hide under a rock
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Dorsal / left lateral views of dissected hagfish brain, scale bar added for size
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Vertical section of hagfish midline trunk: The notochord is the only skeletal element and the musculature lacks a horizontal and vertical septum.
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Hagfish skull Fig 74 in Kingsley 1912
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Drawing of Eptatretus polytrema
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Simplified cyclostome phylogeny based on the work of Shigeru Kuratani and Shigehiro Kuraku; † indicates extinct
See also
In Spanish: Mixines para niños
