North Atlantic hagfish
The North Atlantic hagfish is a unique, boneless, eel-like fish found in the cold depths of the Atlantic Ocean, typically at depths ranging from 65 to 1,000 feet (20 to 300 meters). This jawless creature lacks the ability to see beyond distinguishing light from dark, relying instead on its keen senses of touch and smell, aided by six sensitive barbels around its mouth. It is a carnivorous scavenger that feeds on worms, crustaceans, and other fish, using its suction mouth and raspy teeth to latch onto its prey and consume it from the inside out.
Measuring up to 2.5 feet (76 centimeters), the hagfish has pale brown skin and a long, fleshy tail fin. Notable for its slime production, the hagfish secretes large amounts of slime for both protection and burrow stabilization. This slime serves as a defense mechanism against predators, making it difficult to grasp. Interestingly, the hagfish can tie its body into knots to effectively shed excess slime and avoid suffocation.
Reproductively, females can lay up to 30 eggs, which can take up to 11 months to hatch. With a lifespan ranging from 17 to 40 years, the North Atlantic hagfish is not currently considered a threatened species, highlighting its resilience in the oceanic ecosystem.
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North Atlantic hagfish
The North Atlantic hagfish is a long, slimy, boneless, eel-like fish which lives at cold ocean depths of 65 to 1,000 feet (20 to 300 meters). It cannot see anything more than the difference between light and dark. It also does not have jaws with which to eat its prey of worms, crustaceans, and fish. The hagfish attaches its suction mouth to the side of a fish and drills its way inside to eat the fish's flesh.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Myxini
Order: Myxiniformes
Family: Myxinidae
Genus: Myxine
Species: Glutinosa
Like the other hagfish, this species is a long, eel-like creature which lives in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean at depths between 65 and 1,000 feet (20 to 300 meters). It swims slowly through the water and makes its home in a burrow in the mud. Slime released from its body hardens on the walls of the burrow to keep them from collapsing.
A North Atlantic hagfish has white to pale brown skin on its 2 1/2-foot (76 centimeter) eel-like body. The fish's caudal, or tail, fin is long and fleshy. Since it does not have eyes, its senses of touch and smell are very sharp. Six sensitive feelers called barbels hang around the mouth area and help it feel for its prey. Small indentations on its head and near its tail are very sensitive to light and take the place of the eyes it does not have. A second tube-like opening above the mouth serves as a nostril, inside of which is a sac used for smelling. This nostril also takes in water and pumps it over the gills so the hagfish can breathe. Like a frog, the hagfish is able to breathe through its skin, which absorbs oxygen and then releases carbon dioxide.
A North Atlantic hagfish does not have a heart like other animals but has six heart-like pumps to move the blood through its long body. One pump moves blood through the vessels of the fish's gills, and two more speed the blood along its way after it leaves the gill area. A fourth pump pushes the blood through the liver, and two more pumps force blood from the tail back to the rest of the circulatory system.
The North Atlantic hagfish is one of 76 species of hagfish, all of which are jawless fish. It has a flat surface around its mouth, which has one or more rings of teeth surrounding it. Sharp teeth also line its tongue. It is a carnivore, or meat-eater, and a parasitic feeder on other fish which are living or dying, or it may scavenge on dead fish. When it smells a meal nearby, it swims up current to the fish and attaches to the side of its prey with its suction mouth. The teeth then rasp, or scrape roughly, a hole into the fish through which the hagfish may suck out the fish's flesh and even crawl inside to eat. Other prey are worms and other invertebrates, or creatures without backbones. A hagfish does not need to eat very often because its body stores food in the form of fat. The hagfish faces danger from few predators, but seal lions, seals, dolphins, porpoises, and octopus may prey on species.
The same slime which the hagfish uses to make its burrow also provides it with protection and a means of escape from danger. The hagfish releases great amounts of slime which make them nearly impossible to catch or hold. The hagfish can also tie its body into knots, which is effective for escaping predators, especially when the body is slimy.
Too much slime on the body may clog the fish's gill openings and suffocate it. By forming a knot and pulling itself through the loop it is able to scrape the slime from its body. At other times, the hagfish may need to "sneeze" in order to clear its nostril of slime so that it does not suffocate.
A female lays up to 30 oval eggs which are one inch (2 1/2 centimeters) long. Each egg has a tuft to attach itself to other eggs or to the bottom until it hatches. The eggs may remain in the embryotic stage for up to 11 months. Very little else is known of the reproductive habits of this fish.
The life span of the North Atlantic hagfish is between 17 and 40 years. They are not a threatened species.
Bibliography
“Atlantic Hagfish - Deep Sea Creatures on Sea and Sky.” SeaSky.org, 2016, www.seasky.org/deep-sea/atlantic-hagfish.html#google‗vignette. Accessed 2 May 2024.
“Myxine Glutinosa, Atlantic Hagfish.” FishBase, fishbase.mnhn.fr/summary/2513. Accessed 2 May 2024.