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Hagfishes: Myxini

Hagfishes And People

Hagfishes help the environment by cleaning the ocean floor. They also are caught for meat and their skins. People who buy leather goods made out of "eel skin" are actually buying products made with hagfish skin.

SLIME AND KNOTS

Hagfishes make slime in glands along the sides of their bodies. When attacked or handled, the fish forms a small amount of slime, which expands to a gallon or so when it comes in contact with the surrounding water. The hagfish then slips away. The hagfish rids itself of the slime by tying itself in a knot and scraping itself clean by moving the knot down its body.

Additional topics

Animal Life ResourceFish and Other Cold-Blooded VertebratesHagfishes: Myxini - Physical Characteristics, Behavior And Reproduction, Hagfishes And People, Atlantic Hagfish (myxine Glutinosa): Species Account - GEOGRAPHIC RANGE, HABITAT, DIET, CONSERVATION STATUS