The first time I heard about a hagfish was on Sponge Bob Square Pants. My mother was wrong, you can learn something from watching Sponge Bob.
Check out Madame Hagfish!
Today, I am going to talk about TWO kinds of fish called the Lamprey and the hagfish. They are known as jawless fish. Fish without jaws were the first vertebrates on earth which lived on the seabed and sucked up their food. Most jawless fish died about three million years ago ; however, the Lampreys and Hagfish still exist. Both the Lampreys and the Hagfish have bodies like snakes, round mouths, and tiny eyes. They also have slimy skin and no scales. The openings for their gills are shaped like portholes.
Portholes
At the bottom are pictures of the Lamprey and the Hagfish (They are definitely "Freaks of Nature"). I bet you can't tell which one is my favorite. It will be HARD.
Hagfish are deep sea scavengers which feed on dead or dying fish. They have very poor eye sight. However, they have an excellent sense of smell which helps them to find food. They often slither right inside their prey. The Hagfish does not have jaws, but it has small teeth that it uses to eat its prey from the inside. It releases a smelly slime as a defense which makes it hard for a predator to grab hold of it. The slime is very strong and hard to remove. To remove the slime, the Hagfish ties its body in a knot which makes the slime slip down to its tail. The Hagfish is known for its ability to produce vast amounts of slime. The slime comes from the glands that line both sides of the Hagfish body. The slime comes out in a concentrated form but swells when it contacts seawater.
Maybe they need glasses!
Hagfish Slime.This is gross! The Hagfish all tied up!
The Hagfish has four hearts and its color can be either pink, brown or grey. I guess if one heart does not work it has three others. Hagfish lay long eggs and their young look like small adults when they are hatched. Young Hagfish have both male and female organs but as they age they become male or female. However, they are able to change gender from one season to another. There are currently sixty seven known species of Hagfish.
Hagfish are deep sea scavengers which feed on dead or dying fish. They have very poor eye sight. However, they have an excellent sense of smell which helps them to find food. They often slither right inside their prey. The Hagfish does not have jaws, but it has small teeth that it uses to eat its prey from the inside. It releases a smelly slime as a defense which makes it hard for a predator to grab hold of it. The slime is very strong and hard to remove. To remove the slime, the Hagfish ties its body in a knot which makes the slime slip down to its tail. The Hagfish is known for its ability to produce vast amounts of slime. The slime comes from the glands that line both sides of the Hagfish body. The slime comes out in a concentrated form but swells when it contacts seawater.
Maybe they need glasses!
Hagfish Slime.This is gross! The Hagfish all tied up!
The Hagfish has four hearts and its color can be either pink, brown or grey. I guess if one heart does not work it has three others. Hagfish lay long eggs and their young look like small adults when they are hatched. Young Hagfish have both male and female organs but as they age they become male or female. However, they are able to change gender from one season to another. There are currently sixty seven known species of Hagfish.
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| THIS IS MY FAVORITE A Hagfish |
Lampreys can be found in temperate rivers and sea coasts. They have dark brown to black backs and light yellow to light brown bellies. There are about forty three species of Lampreys. Some species live in fresh water for their entire life and others migrate from fresh water to the sea. Adult Lampreys are parasites that feed on the blood of other fish. They have a funnel like sucking mouth and sharp teeth for holding onto their prey. Lampreys can hold onto their prey for weeks while taking so much blood that their prey will die. I think the Lamprey has a lot in common with Dracula.
The Lamprey young are born in rivers. The lamprey young are also blind and toothless. The young spend up to six years filtering food from the water before they become adults. When Sea Lamprey young become adults they travel downriver to the sea.
I KNOW IT'S SCARY!!!!!!!:(
A Lamprey funnel like mouth. Lots of Lampreys.
Now it is time to say GOODBYE.
I had a lot of fun learning about Hagfish and Lampreys. I hope that you learned a lot from my post.......THAT LAMPREYS AND HAGFISH ARE SCARY!!!!!!!!!!!
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