Why is this animal unusual?
The slime. When grabbed, a hagfish squirts out a teaspoon of goo that swells up to 10,000 times its size on contact with seawater. It clogs the gills of any fish that bites – and the attacker spits the hagfish out, gagging.
Why does it look like that?
Hagfish have a skull but no real backbone, eyes that are just spots under the skin, and four hearts. Around the mouth are fleshy feelers for finding food in the mud.
Strangest biological feature
The slime is full of threads thinner than a hair and stronger than nylon. Scientists are studying it as a material for future fabrics.
Why is it strange?
To wipe off its own slime, a hagfish ties itself in a knot and slides the knot down its body. It also sneezes to clear slime from its single nostril.
Interesting behavioral facts
It burrows into dead animals and eats them from the inside out. It can even soak up nutrients straight through its skin while it’s in there.
Records held
In 2017 a truck carrying about 3,400 kg of live hagfish overturned on a highway in Oregon. The road, and several cars, ended up buried in slime.
