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logo 11/25/2024 7:41:49 AM     
Atlantic hagfish: A slimy ‘nightmare’ of a fish that feeds on the dead 
By Ellen Goethel US Source: sea coast online 8/18/2022
Ellen Goethel
One of the most disgusting-looking fish I have encountered in my long career in fisheries is the Atlantic hagfish or, as the fishermen refer to them, slime eels. An extremely primitive fish similar to lampreys, these are one of the ocean’s most ancient fish. These are what nightmares are made of!
 

Hagfish are scaleless, jawless, boneless fish that have a skeleton of cartilage and look somewhat like an eel. Growing up to 35 inches and covered with slime, they have a head with thick barbels, a skull of cartilage and no backbone or jaw. They don’t look like a fish at all. These fish have over 100 slime glands that secrete slime through between 90 and 200 pores located down the length of their body.

 
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