This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 at 12:29 am and is filed under Adventure Cruises. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Photo Courtesy NOAA/udaythombreblogspot
Holy *&#! what is that? First reactions are always the best! When the mouth picture was shown to family members that was the reaction I received from each individual.
The hagfish, Family Myxinidae, are undoubtedly in the top 10 of creepiest fish in the ocean. The species eptatretus carlhubbsi is found from the French Frigate Shoals and Moloka’i. This particular species is the largest known hagfish growing to 116 centimeters (nearly 46 inches)!
These fish come from a very primitive lineage, which can be traced back millions of years. Scientists have long said this fish is one of the most disgusting of all fish species. Not only do they eat dead and rotting carcasses at the bottom of the ocean, they have also been known to sneak up on sleeping fish and devour them. When disturbed or threatened they can produce tremendous amounts of fibrous slime, which quickly thickens. To free themselves of their slimy mess, they twist their bodies into a knot and clean off the slime from tip to tail, quickly swimming away ready for the next meal. Researchers tell us that when these ugly critters are at rest they can be seen lying on, or partially hidden in sandy or silty sea floors.
So, just how far down will these fish travel? Researchers say from 1578 to 5164 feet down!
Although we’ll keep searching to see what we can find, so far the hagfish is number one in our Halloween countdown of creepy and weird marine life of Hawaii, where folks come from all over the world to snorkel and enjoy marine life in the Pacific. We hope to see you soon!
