10/4/2023 0 Comments Snot hair gel![]() Hagfishes don't have a bony skeleton, however - there are no vertebrae in these vertebrates. A vertebrate is typically defined as an animal that has a spinal cord surrounded by vertebrae. Hagfishes are counted as vertebrates, but they do cause some problems for taxonomists. Most of a hagfish's brain is devoted to scent detection. Instead of sight, they find their way around and locate food using pairs of barbels - ultrasensitive, fleshy, whisker-like protrusions around their mouths - and by using their incredible sense of smell. They are eyeless animals, though they have eyespots that can detect light. The largest species, Eptatretus goliath, has been recorded at over a metre long, whereas some smaller species can be just a few centimetres. All are found in salt water but range in preferred depth from the shallows to about 1,700 metres deep. There are 76 species of hagfish around the world. They are joined in this group by the equally wonderfully weird lampreys. They are fishes, but belong to an exclusive group called cyclostomes, also known as jawless fishes. Hagfishes (Myxini) are sometimes referred to as slime eels and occasionally as snot snakes, but they are neither eel nor reptile. ![]() ![]() Hagfishes are excellent: they are part of the ocean's clean-up crew, have changed relatively little in 300 million years and can produce extraordinary quantities of slime. While some might describe a hagfish as 'repulsive,' 'disgusting' or, more poetically, 'Lovecraftian', we would have to strongly disagree.
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