The week of self-defense continues with the unique characteristics of the Hagfish.  This isn’t an ordinary fish as you can tell by the picture above.  In fact it doesn’t even look like a fish.  There have been some arguments over the classification of the hagfish but for now it is still classed as a fish. This is definitely one fish that I would not want to catch with my fishing rod and you will see why in a few seconds.

Before we get into their self-defense mechanism I wanted you to know that the hagfish is the only animal that has a skull but does not have a spine. So I guess you can say the hagfish is thick-skulled and spineless! This lack of vertebrae actually plays an important part in their self-defense strategy.  What happens when a predator latches onto the hagfish? Well, as you can imagine the fish gets scared.  Now, you won’t like the hagfish when he is scared (or angry) because when they are threatened they will release a bunch of slime.  This may be gross but how does it protect the hagfish? When this mucous mixes with the water it turns into a gelatinous material that will cover the attacker.  Besides confusing and distracting the predator, it may also clog their gills which will give the hagfish ample time to escape.  I mentioned that the lack of vertebrae actually help with this defense strategy and I wasn’t lying.  The hagfish will still need to escape the grasp of the predator by tying themselves in a knot and pulling their body through the knot.  As well, this knot tying technique also gets rid of any slime that may be suffocating the hagfish.  For some reason I kept picturing Slimer from Ghostbusters as I wrote this post.

Hagfish Fast Fact: The hagfish can turn 20 Litres (5 Gallons) of water into slime in a matter of minutes.

Check out the video in the post below to get a better understanding of the slime produced by an adult hagfish.  Enjoy!