Description
Lineage:
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Myxini
Order Myxiniformes
Family Myxinidae
Characteristics:
Hagfish's body has not changed much
for
the past 300 millions years. They
physically
resemble eels or lamprey. They
are simple
and elegant in "design" with long, slender
bodies that are light pinkish grey in colour.
Hagfish have no fins except for a primitive
tail fin. They have reduced eyes, but they
compensate for lack of vision with good
senses of smell and touch. Also, hagfish
lack any real backbone, so they are not
considered true vertebrates. Instead, the
little skeleton that they do have, is
constructed of cartilage.
Hagfish have a ring of sensitive tentacles
around their mouths and a singular
median nostril. These sensitive organs
are presumably used to help them
locate marine worms or other
invertebrates, their primary source of
food in the darkness of the sea floor.
Large slime glands line the entire length of
their bodies. This slime is usually released
when threatened or provoked. It is believed
that this cocoon of slime protects the hagfish
from predatory attacks by allowing the it to slip
away. The slime may even threaten
to suffocate a potential predator.
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Environment:
The hagfish live in the chilly waters the
anti-tropical regions of the north and south.
They tend to live in dense populations in
or on muddy sea floors.
Food:
The hagfish's diet consists of marine worms
or other invertebrates located on the sea floor.
They are also known to parasitize slow moving
or dying
fish eating their way into the body
where they will eat it from the inside, leaving
the skin and bones behind.
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