The Pacific hagfish (''Eptatretus stoutii'') is a species of hagfish. It lives in the mesopelagic to

abyssal The abyssal zone or abyssopelagic zone is a layer of the pelagic zone of the ocean. "Abyss" derives from the Greek word , meaning bottomless. At depths of , this zone remains in perpetual darkness. It covers 83% of the total area of the ocean an ...

Pacific ocean, near the ocean floor. It is a

jawless fish Agnatha (, Ancient Greek 'without jaws') is an infraphylum of jawless fish in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, consisting of both present (cyclostomes) and extinct (conodonts and ostracoderms) species. Among recent animals, cyclostome ...

and has a body plan that resembles early paleozoic fish. They are able to excrete prodigious amounts of slime in self-defense.

Description

The Pacific hagfish has a long,

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

-like body, but is not closely related to eels. Maximum body lengths of have been reported; typical length at maturity is around . It is dark brown, gray or brownish red, often tinted with blue or purple. The belly is lighter and sometimes has larger white patches. It has no true fins, but there is a

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal co ...

fin-fold. The head, as in all agnathans, does not have jaws, and the sucker-like mouth is always open. The Pacific hagfish confused the scientists at first because Linnaeus mistakenly classified the organism as an "intestinal worm". Hagfish have loosely fitting, slimy skins, and are notorious for their slime-production capability. When disturbed, they ooze proteins from slime glands in the skin that respond to water by becoming a slimy outer coating, expanding into a huge mass of slime. This makes the fish very unsavory to predators, and can even be used to clog the gills of predatory fish. Pacific hagfish can create large amounts of slime in just minutes. The slime is notoriously difficult to remove from fishing gear and equipment, and has led to Pacific fishermen bestowing the nickname of 'slime eel' on the species. Hagfish also possess the unique ability to tie their bodies into knots. This adaptation becomes useful when the fish needs to remove the suffocating nature of its own slime by pulling itself through a knot. The knots also provide aid in the process of ripping apart meat.

Distribution and habitat

The Pacific hagfish occurs in the Eastern North Pacific from Canada to Mexico. It inhabits fine silt and clay bottoms on the continental shelves and upper slopes at depths from . The species appears to be abundant within its range.

Diet

While Pacific hagfish likely take

polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are ma ...

worms and other invertebrates from the sea floor, they are also known to enter dead, dying or inhibited large fish through the mouth or the anus, and feed on their viscera. The diet of other hagfish species includes shrimps, hermit crabs,

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, a ...

brittlestar Brittlestar is the stage name of Stewart Reynolds, a Stratford, Ontario based comedian, writer, communications consultant, and online television show host. His campaign for KFC Canada was the world's most watched branded video on Facebook in th ...

s, bony fishes, sharks, birds and whale flesh, but specific information about the Pacific hagfish is lacking. The Pacific hagfish's skin can absorb

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...

Reproduction

Hagfish fertilise their eggs externally after the female has laid them. On average females lay about 28 eggs, about in diameter, which are carried around after they have been fertilised. Females will however try to stay in their burrows during this period to ensure the protection of their eggs.

Use by humans

There is a well-developed hagfish fishery on the US West Coast that mostly supplies the Asian leather-market. Hagfish-skin clothing, belts, or other accessories are advertised and sold as "yuppie leather" or "eel-skin".

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q683492 Myxinidae Western North American coastal fauna Fish described in 1878