They're sneaky.
They're slimy.
And they're hungry for meat.
The hagfish,
or slime eel,
has earned its name
due to its unique defense mechanism.
When they are agitated,
hagfish can secrete slime
to choke unsuspecting predators.
Even sharks fall prey to their gunky wrath.
This makes us wonder,
what would happen
if you fell into a pool full of them?
Hagfish have been around
for hundreds of millions of years,
and are the only known living animal
with a skull
but no spine.
They are also jawless creatures
with the unique ability
to absorb nutrients through their skin.
Using four sets of teeth on their tongue,
hagfish like to burrow inside sea creatures,
dead and alive,
and digest them over time.
Their bodies are lined with special glands
that secrete stringy proteins
when the hagfish feels agitated.
This slime can expand
10,000 times larger in under a second,
making it a lethal choking hazard to predators.
So, could you survive in a pool full of them?
Many hobbyists are actually turning their pools
into self-sustaining ecosystems
for fish and plants, known as
If you're feeling adventurous,
and want to adopt hundreds of hagfish,
you'll need a cold saltwater pool
to mimic their natural habitat
and enough dead fish to feed them.
In the unfortunate event
that you slip
and fall into the pool,
you might still be OK
if you're close to the surface.
As bottom dwellers,
they may not even react to you being there.
But if you happen to disturb them,
the water would start to get
very slimy very quickly,
making it difficult to swim.
The slime isn't actually sticky,
but it is particularly strong.
It would tangle around your toes,
fingers, ears and the crevices of your body.
If it got in your mouth
and started to expand in your throat,
you could choke very quickly and drown.
Eventually, the hagfish would feast on your body.
That's not exactly a nice way to go
Also, you might want to be extra careful
if you're driving near trucks full of hagfish.
Eww.
Hagfish slime is a mucin,
like snot,
except that it doesn't dry out.
"Achoo!"
"Um, can someone get me a tissue please?"
The mucin is made up of long fibers,
like spider silk,
which are arranged in small bundles known as
When these skeins come into contact
with seawater,
the glue holding them together dissolves,
and the slime expands rapidly.
These slime microfibers are stronger than nylon,
thinner than human hair,
and 100,000 times softer than Jell-O.
This makes hagfish slime
an exceptionally useful
and environmentally-friendly fabric.
In fact, it's used to make safety helmets,
Kevlar vests,
and even airbags.
And researchers are investigating
whether it could be used as a hydrogel
to hold water in soil for farming.
Hagfish are also considered a delicacy
in Korean cuisine
and are used in many delicious stir-fry recipes.
So, maybe if you're careful,
you could harvest them as a business.
Whatever the situation is, if you're swimming
deep in the ocean,
be aware of the many risks involved.
You might even come face-to-face
with a giant squid.
But that's a story for another What If.