Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe week of self-defense continues with the unique characteristics of the Hagfish.\u00a0 This isn’t an ordinary fish as you can tell by the picture above.\u00a0 In fact it doesn’t even look like a fish.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 What happens when a predator latches onto the hagfish? Well, as you can imagine the fish gets scared.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Besides confusing and distracting the predator, it may also clog their gills which will give the hagfish ample time to escape.\u00a0 I mentioned that the lack of vertebrae actually help with this defense strategy and I wasn’t lying.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 As well, this knot tying technique also gets rid of any slime that may be suffocating the hagfish.\u00a0 For some reason I kept picturing Slimer from Ghostbusters as I wrote this post.<\/p>\n
Hagfish Fast Fact: <\/strong>The hagfish can turn 20 Litres (5 Gallons) of water into slime in a matter of minutes.<\/p>\nCheck out the video in the post below to get a better understanding of the slime produced by an adult hagfish.\u00a0 Enjoy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The week of self-defense continues with the unique characteristics of the Hagfish.\u00a0 This isn’t an ordinary fish as you can tell by the picture above.\u00a0 In fact it doesn’t even look like a fish.\u00a0 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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[64,4024],"tags":[348,226,4116,364,366,365,4025,4027],"yoast_head":"\n
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