Hagfish

== **Basic Information ** == Hagfish are marine animals of the class **Myxini**, also known as **Hyperotreti,** which means they are the only one of the few living animals that have a skull but not a spine. Despite their name, hagfish are not fish; they are merely eel-like creatures. The earliest fossil record of the hagfish dates back approximately 550 million years or to the Lower Cambrian period. Their unusual feeding habits and slime-producing capabilities have led members of the scientific and popular media to give the hagfish as the most "disgusting" of all sea creatures. Although hagfish are sometimes called "slime eels", they are not eels at all. ** Body Features ** Hagfish are about 18 inches long; the largest known hagfish was recorded at 127 cm.Hagfish have long, eel-like bodies, and tails. They have a skull that is made out of cartilage and tooth-like structures made of keratin. The colors of hagfish depend on the species, ranging from pink to blue-grey, and black or white spots can be on the hagfish. Hagfish have no true fins and have six or eight flippers around the mouth and a single nostril. They have a pair of tooth-like points for pulling off food. The mouth of the hagfish has two pairs of horny, comb-shaped teeth. These teeth are used to grasp food and push it back to the throat. **Behavior** Hagfish are long and flexible, and can make a lot of a slime or mucus of unusual features. When captured and held by the tail, they make a slime, which expands into a sticky goo when combined with water; if they remain captured, they can tie themselves in an knot which works its way from the head to the tail of the animal, scraping off the slime and escaping from the predator at the same time. It has been proven that the hagfish also uses its slime to escape from fishs' mouths to distract them. The hagfish also uses its slime to use a technique called the gill-clog. The hagfish squirts its slime into an attacking predator's gills, which suffocates them. Hagfish also slime when it is annoyed and will later clear the mucus off by the same knot twisting technique. The gill-clogging effect suggests that the knot technique is necessary or it will clog its own gills as well. An adult hagfish can make enough slime to turn a 5 gallon bucket of water into slime in a matter of minutes. Researches are still looking to find out what the slime is made out of and how the hagfish can create it. **Reproduction** Very little is known about hagfish reproduction. In some species, sex ratio has been reported to be as high as 100:1 in favor of females. Some hagfish species are thought to be both male and female, having both testicles and ovaries. Some hagfish don't develope their ovaries until an older age, or a high point of emotional stress. Depending on species, females lay from 1 or 2, to 20-30, tough, yolky eggs. Some hagfish have been seen surrounding their eggs, curling up in a ball around them. The Hagfish doesn't have a larva stage like the lamprey. The single testicle or ovary has no transportation duct. Instead the Hagfish spits out its eggs through its digestive system, or through its butt. media type="youtube" key="Bb2EOP3ohnE" height="314" width="382" align="right" Home Page