11 Things you Didn’t Want to know About Bottom Feeder
Widely considered the most disgusting animal of the ocean, but despite being utterly repulsive, hagfish are undoubtedly unique.
Here are 11 things you didn’t want to know about this ruthless bottom-feeder!
1. They’re cheeky
In 2013 a team of researchers in Italy observed a bottlenose dolphin with what looked like a large, parasitic tubeworm stuck in its blowhole. Closer observation revealed it was a hagfish, and it’s unknown how it got there.
The team speculated the dolphin encountered the eel-like appendage while sticking its head in the sand at the bottom of the sea. Either the hagfish intended to defend itself or burrow its way in for a tasty dolphin treat.
2. They’re Too Good for Change
Hagfish are a prehistoric species dating back to 300 million years ago and what’s interesting, they look almost exactly the same then as they do now.
Scientists admonish very little change has occurred in their evolution since then, which doesn’t mean their growth has stagnated, but that the species have arrived at a body plan that has worked for them all this time.
3. They Have a Bizarre Body
While being a spineless bottom-dweller may sound like a diss, this animal’s body lends enough unique talents to make it kind of wonderful. With nearly 80 species of the tentacled deep-sea creature in existence around the world, the hagfish is considered a slime-oozing marine fish.
Of the class Myxini, it is the only known animal to have a skull but no vertebral column. The creature has sightless eyes and multiple hearts— three to be exact, and can absorb nutrients directly through its slimy, sticky skin.
4. They Have Terrifying Mouths
The jawless mouth features two pairs of horny, combed-shaped teeth on a plate that protracts and retracts when tearing off chunks of food. Although they are jawless, hagfish have two rows of tooth-like structures made of keratin that give the little guy strength to burrow through flesh.
This allows them to bite off big chunks of deliciously decaying food. While eating dead or live prey, they can tie their tails in knots to generate torque and increase the force of their bites.
5. They Ooze Slime
They ooze goo and possess the ability to blast their predators with slime. To ward off marine moochers trying to steal their meal, hagfish utilize glands which line their bodies to secrete stringy proteins.
As they feed on a carcass, slime pours out, covering the dead animal and preventing other scavengers from stealing the scrumptious snack.
6. They Pull a Houdini
Among the impressive offenses of the oversized tubeworm, one is that they can tie themselves into knots to escape danger.
Approximately a foot long, the animals can squeeze through tiny gaps as narrow as half its body width. This is due to their skin which is very loosely attached to their body and can therefore hold large volumes of blood. Due to this, a hagfish will tie itself in knots to escape harm from predators.
7. Their Heart Beats Without Oxygen
A remarkable ability of the hagfish is that it’s heart beats without oxygen. Their three hearts can beat for hours and hours with zero oxygen supply, which researchers assume to be powered by fats in the body.
8. They Feed Off the Dead
The hagfish uses its mouth to burrow face-first to bore a deep tunnel into the unsuspecting flesh. Once it enters the carcass, the hagfish gorges itself so much that it can’t get out again, and it’s forced to live inside until the food is digested. While their eating habits may seem atrocious, hagfish can help clean and recycle dead animals from the seabed floor.
9. Hagfish vs. Lululemon Athletic Wear
Tree huggers are calling hagfish the new, “biomaterial of the future,” and it’s all in the slime. Hagfish threads are nearly as strong and light as spider silk, and researchers have been trying to adapt the yarn-like substance into clothing for years.
10. They’re Almost Extinct
Despite their prehistoric track record, they may not be around for much longer. According to a 2011 report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, 12% of hagfish are at a high rate of extinction. One hagfish species in particular are critically endangered, six are vulnerable and two are very near threatened.
11. They’ve Made National News
“Slime eels explode on highway after a bizarre accident,” reads the headline. On July 14th, 2017 a truck carrying thousands of hagfish— destined for dinner plates in China— endured a wreck on an Oregon highway, covering at least one car in slime and making for one of the strangest traffic accidents in history. In what later became known as the “hagfish crash,” a highway full of a gooey gel-like substance caused several cars to collide and a bulldozer hours to remove the muck from the road.
