hagfish

[hag-fish]

noun

plural

hagfish ,

plural

hagfishes .

1. any eellike, marine cyclostome of the order Myxiniformes, having undeveloped eyes, a barbel-rimmed, circular mouth, and horny teeth for boring into the flesh of fishes to feed on their interior parts.

hagfish

/ ˈhæɡˌfɪʃ /

noun

1. Often shortened to: hag. any eel-like marine cyclostome vertebrate of the family Myxinidae, having a round sucking mouth and feeding on the tissues of other animals and on dead organic material

Word History and Origins

Origin of hagfish¹

First recorded in 1605–15; hag ¹ + fish

Example Sentences

The hagfish, a deep-sea scavenger about the size and shape of a tube sock, has the curious ability to smother itself in its own snot.

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"The cell clusters we observed are likely lamprey-specific features, as they are not recognizable in the head mesoderm of both hagfish and shark embryos," explains Dr. Onai.

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“I have never met anyone like John,” said Douglas Fudge, a professor of biological sciences at Chapman University whose research into the biophysics of hagfish slime has benefited from Gregg’s funding.

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“It was a little hard to wrap my head around because of how different it looks from a lamprey or hagfish,” says McCoy, who was not involved in the new study.

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The whale’s stomach contained six hagfish traps, seven types of fishing net, two types of plastic bags, a light protector, fishing line and a float from a net.

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