Hagfish Slime : A Creepiest Wonder

Hagfish are eel like creatures which spend their lives wriggling in the ocean. Hagfish is a slime producing marine species. It is the only specimen which has a skull but no vertebral column.They are spineless and are virtually blind. They have no jaws and have barely changed in the 300 million years.  One interesting thing about them is that their heart breathes without oxygen.

But what makes them special is the sticky substance which they secrete in the ocean when predators were about to attack. The gelatinous substance smooths the gills and mouth of the predators thwarting the attack. This thing has amazed the scientist and researchers for long decades.

Formation

The hagfish is formed when the seawater interacts with mucin and vesicles which are secreted by the slime glands. This results in the formation of the gloomy substance just like a mucus thread which is rich in the fiber. This fiber is also known as the intermediate filament (IF).

Creepiest Creature

Hagfish is one of the creepiest creature found in the ocean. They are eel creatures because their skin remains naked with the losing fitting sock. They are elongated and have a paddle like tails. They have no fins whereas they have 6-8 barbels also know as barbs. The barbels present near the mouth of the hagfish helps them to search found in the murky water.

Home Of Hagfish

The hagfish is native to the Northern Pacific fisheries These fishes are then sent to the Asian countries which even includes the South Korea.

Slime

The slime is taken as a defender against the predatory fishes, as they cannot deal with the slime secreted by the hagfish. The slime has the property to quickly stuck and thus is considered to be a gooey substance.

“Slime looks like a spider man's web rather than gag ”

Slime Secretion When No Sharks Around

The hagfish is also known as scavengers because they reside in the dead bodies. These scavenger discharge slime in seawater. If the hagfish secrete the gooey substance only when they are about to be attacked by the predators then the reason behind its discharge need to be evaluated.

Scientist and researchers studied about this fact and they realized that the hagfish even secrete the substance when they are in stress.

Slime Spewing Monsters

Hagfish can be seen anywhere where they find the food like whale carcasses. When they feed on to the carcass the slime left on the carcass is poured out preventing their food from the other sea creatures. The secretion of lime makes them a wonderful creature. But no doubt, they are regarded as the Slime Spewing Monsters.

Slime: An Eco-Friendly Cloth Material

A research team invested and found that the slime secreted by hagfish can be used in making clothes. The fish are harvested, for this reason, when the slime is dissolved in the liquid then it can be spun into silk used as clothing material.

The team is exploring how these fish are able to produce the protein fiber so that they can also start development of the substance scientifically.

Usage

The slime can be used as a packing material, bungee cords to bandages, clothing, food packaging and many others.  The hagfish skin is used in clothing accessories, these include leather, wallets, and belts. Hagfish is used as a food material in Korea. Here the fish is converted into a prized dish.

Property of slime

An interesting fact about slime is that they are thinner than the human hair but is 10 times stronger than the nylon: a material used to manufacture clothes.

Hagfish Ordeal

On July 14th thousands of Hagfish shattered at the Oregon’s highway. Because of this accident, it was observed that it created a bizarre traffic on the road. The slime covered the car and the roads making it very difficult to remove them from the road. (1.1)

There is a lot more about the hagfish which we do not know. But when you look things closely you will find more weirdness about the slime and hagfish both.  Hagfish have the ability to fold and tie themselves in a knot. They even reside in dead bodies sometimes.