--- title: "Atlantic Hagfish (Myxine glutinosa) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "The jawless North Atlantic scavenger whose slime glands unravel a coiled fiber bundle into a thread a hundred times longer in a fraction of a second." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/atlantic-hagfish-1.webp" published: "2026-09-05" updated: "2026-09-17" --- # Atlantic Hagfish (*Myxine glutinosa*) > **Status**: Checked against 9 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: The jawless North Atlantic scavenger whose slime glands unravel a coiled fiber bundle into a thread a hundred times longer in a fraction of a second. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Industrial Noise & Avant-Garde Experimental // Einstürzende Neubauten, "Yü-gung - Fütter mein ego" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/41VTcYnDrvfQq4nctWCHVH) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H2bYIEAFsU) > **Vibe Match**: Raw, primal, unpolished biological distortion. Provoke it and striated muscle squeezes the slime gland, firing coiled protein thread that unravels in a fraction of a second. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Myxine glutinosa* - **Danger Level**: Low - **Conservation Status**: Least Concern ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2011-1.rlts.t196057a8988080.en)) - **Superpower**: Defensive slime that unravels into gill-clogging protein thread in a fraction of a second - **Habitat**: Muddy North Atlantic sea floors at 2 to 13°C (depths of 20 to 1,200 meters, usually 27 to 460) - **Diet**: Dead and dying fish, bored into for the viscera and musculature; juveniles may feed solely on invertebrates in the substrate - **Tags**: deep-sea, ocean, extreme-survivor, scavenger, fish, slime-shooter ## Natural History & Behavior ## A Living Fossil With No Face to Speak Of Look at an Atlantic hagfish's head and there isn't much there: a jawless mouth, a single nostril, one pair of gill openings, barbels. Hagfish and lampreys are the most ancient extant vertebrates, and the hagfish eye is strikingly rudimentary: no lens, no pigment, and in the genus *Myxine* buried under a layer of muscle, possibly a photoreceptive organ for circadian timing rather than image formation. Behind the mouth there is no jaw, and the feeding apparatus is tooth cusp plates and a dental muscle complex. A big adult reaches 95 centimeters, though a common length is 30 centimeters, or 40 for a female. One Gulf of Maine sample averaged 51 centimeters (19.5 to 72.4), and those over 35 centimeters had an average weight of 140 grams. ## A Gland Full of Coiled Thread A Gulf of Maine survey counted 114 slime pores on average down the left side alone. Each gland behind them holds thread cells packed with coiled bundles of protein fiber, and mucus cells; striated muscle squeezes both into the seawater when the animal is provoked. Clogging the gills of fish predators is one of the primary functions of hagfish slime, and the threads keep a predator from flushing it out. > **A Hundredfold Unraveling** Mucus vesicles mixed into seawater swell into long strands that attach to a thread bundle and transmit the forces that unravel it, turning a 150-micrometer coil into a thread a hundred times longer in a fraction of a second. That last step is this species' own: Atlantic hagfish skeins need both vigorous mixing and mucus to unravel, while Pacific hagfish skeins come undone spontaneously. Emptied glands take three to four weeks to refill in both, though the Pacific hagfish recovers exudate at the faster absolute rate. ## The Choke Test, on Camera A 2011 study put baited video units on the seafloor off New Zealand, 50 to 1,200 meters down. The hagfish on those tapes were New Zealand species, not Atlantic hagfish. In 14 recorded incidents, catsharks, spiny dogfish and conger eels were clearly repelled: slime filled the mouth and gill chamber in under four-tenths of a second, the predators convulsed their gill arches in a gagging effort to clear it, and could not acquire their prey. The hagfish, in all cases, appeared to sustain no injury, often carrying on feeding. Of the Atlantic hagfish, FishBase says that its slime is used for defense. ## A Deep, Cold, Anonymous Life Atlantic hagfish range the North Atlantic, Greenland and the USA to Murmansk and down to the Mediterranean Sea (absent from its eastern end and the Black Sea), in 2 to 13°C water from 20 to 1,200 meters down. It is the only hagfish in the northeast Atlantic. They hide in muddy bottoms, usually in shallow burrows with nose and barbels in the current, and are chiefly nocturnal. The diet is chiefly dead and dying fish, bored into for viscera and musculature; juveniles may feed solely on invertebrates in the substrate. The mucus doubles as an immune barrier: myxinidin, a 12-amino-acid peptide from this species' mucus, killed a broad range of bacteria and yeast pathogens, two to 16 times more effectively than the potent fish peptide pleurocidin against most of those screened. How long one lives is not known: the Gulf of Maine population profile reports no data on life span or growth rates. The IUCN lists it as Least Concern. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How does hagfish slime expand so fast in seawater? Each slime gland releases two things at once: tightly coiled bundles of protein fiber and vesicles of mucus. Mixed into seawater the mucus vesicles swell into long strands that attach to a fiber bundle and transmit the mixing forces into it, unraveling a coil barely 150 micrometers long into a thread a hundred times longer in a fraction of a second. Both the mixing and the mucus are required. *(Source: [Winegard & Fudge 2010]())* ### How long does it take a hagfish to refill its slime glands? Completely refilling emptied slime glands takes three to four weeks in both Atlantic and Pacific hagfish, though lab comparisons found Pacific hagfish recover their exudate faster than their Atlantic relatives do. *(Source: [Schorno, Gillis & Fudge 2018]())* ### Can a shark really choke on hagfish slime? Video evidence says yes, though it comes from New Zealand hagfish species, not the Atlantic hagfish. A 2011 baited-camera study found catsharks, spiny dogfish and conger eels could not successfully acquire their hagfish prey: slime filled the mouth and gill chamber in under four-tenths of a second, and the predators convulsed their gill arches in a gagging effort to clear it. *(Source: [Zintzen et al. 2011]())* ## Sources 1. [Myxine glutinosa (Linnaeus, 1758), Atlantic hagfish. FishBase.]() 2. [Martini, Heiser & Lesser (1997). A population profile for Atlantic hagfish, Myxine glutinosa (L.), in the Gulf of Maine. Part I: Morphometrics and reproductive state. Fishery Bulletin (NOAA Fisheries).]() 3. [Winegard & Fudge (2010). Deployment of hagfish slime thread skeins requires the transmission of mixing forces via mucin strands. Journal of Experimental Biology.]() 4. [Schorno, Gillis & Fudge (2018). Emptying and refilling of slime glands in Atlantic ( Myxine glutinosa ) and Pacific ( Eptatretus stoutii ) hagfishes. Journal of Experimental Biology.]() 5. [Zintzen et al. (2011). Hagfish predatory behaviour and slime defence mechanism. Scientific Reports.]() 6. [Fudge & Schorno (2016). The Hagfish Gland Thread Cell: A Fiber-Producing Cell Involved in Predator Defense. Cells.]() 7. [Bradshaw & Allison (2022). Hagfish to Illuminate the Developmental and Evolutionary Origins of the Vertebrate Retina. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology.]() 8. [Subramanian, Ross & MacKinnon (2009). Myxinidin, A Novel Antimicrobial Peptide from the Epidermal Mucus of Hagfish, Myxine glutinosa L. Marine Biotechnology.]() 9. [Mincarone (2013). Myxine glutinosa. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T196057A8988080.]() *Published September 5, 2026. Last updated September 17, 2026.* ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Article", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/atlantic-hagfish/#article", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#website" }, "headline": "Atlantic Hagfish (Myxine glutinosa) | AnimalTracks.wiki", "description": "The jawless North Atlantic scavenger whose slime glands unravel a coiled fiber bundle into a thread a hundred times longer in a fraction of a second.", "image": [ "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/atlantic-hagfish-1.webp" ], "datePublished": "2026-09-05", "dateModified": "2026-09-17", "author": [ { "@type": "Organization", "name": "AnimalTracks.wiki Editorial Team", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki" } ], "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#organization", "name": "AnimalTracks.wiki", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/icon-512.png" } }, "mainEntityOfPage": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/atlantic-hagfish/", "citation": [ { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Myxine glutinosa (Linnaeus, 1758), Atlantic hagfish", "url": "https://fishbase.se/summary/Myxine-glutinosa.html", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "FishBase" } }, { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "A population profile for Atlantic hagfish, Myxine glutinosa (L.), in the Gulf of Maine. Part I: Morphometrics and reproductive state", "url": "https://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/pdf-content/1997/952/martini.pdf", "author": "Martini, Heiser & Lesser", "datePublished": "1997", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Fishery Bulletin (NOAA Fisheries)" } }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Deployment of hagfish slime thread skeins requires the transmission of mixing forces via mucin strands", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.038075", "author": "Winegard & Fudge", "datePublished": "2010", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Journal of Experimental Biology" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1242/jeb.038075" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Emptying and refilling of slime glands in Atlantic ( Myxine glutinosa ) and Pacific ( Eptatretus stoutii ) hagfishes", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.172254", "author": "Schorno, Gillis & Fudge", "datePublished": "2018", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Journal of Experimental Biology" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1242/jeb.172254" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Hagfish predatory behaviour and slime defence mechanism", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/srep00131", "author": "Zintzen et al.", "datePublished": "2011", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Scientific Reports" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1038/srep00131" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "The Hagfish Gland Thread Cell: A Fiber-Producing Cell Involved in Predator Defense", "url": "https://doi.org/10.3390/cells5020025", "author": "Fudge & Schorno", "datePublished": "2016", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Cells" }, "identifier": "doi:10.3390/cells5020025" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Hagfish to Illuminate the Developmental and Evolutionary Origins of the Vertebrate Retina", "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2022.822358", "author": "Bradshaw & Allison", "datePublished": "2022", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology" }, "identifier": "doi:10.3389/fcell.2022.822358" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Myxinidin, A Novel Antimicrobial Peptide from the Epidermal Mucus of Hagfish, Myxine glutinosa L.", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-009-9189-y", "author": "Subramanian, Ross & MacKinnon", "datePublished": "2009", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Marine Biotechnology" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1007/s10126-009-9189-y" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Myxine glutinosa. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T196057A8988080", "url": "https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2011-1.rlts.t196057a8988080.en", "author": "Mincarone", "datePublished": "2013", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species" }, "identifier": "doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2011-1.rlts.t196057a8988080.en" } ], "about": { "@type": "Taxon", "name": "Atlantic Hagfish", "scientificName": "Myxine glutinosa", "description": "Defensive slime that unravels into gill-clogging protein thread in a fraction of a second" } }, { "@type": "FAQPage", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/atlantic-hagfish/#faq", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "How does hagfish slime expand so fast in seawater?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Each slime gland releases two things at once: tightly coiled bundles of protein fiber and vesicles of mucus. Mixed into seawater the mucus vesicles swell into long strands that attach to a fiber bundle and transmit the mixing forces into it, unraveling a coil barely 150 micrometers long into a thread a hundred times longer in a fraction of a second. Both the mixing and the mucus are required.", "citation": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Deployment of hagfish slime thread skeins requires the transmission of mixing forces via mucin strands", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.038075", "author": "Winegard & Fudge", "datePublished": "2010", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Journal of Experimental Biology" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1242/jeb.038075" } } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How long does it take a hagfish to refill its slime glands?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Completely refilling emptied slime glands takes three to four weeks in both Atlantic and Pacific hagfish, though lab comparisons found Pacific hagfish recover their exudate faster than their Atlantic relatives do.", "citation": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Emptying and refilling of slime glands in Atlantic ( Myxine glutinosa ) and Pacific ( Eptatretus stoutii ) hagfishes", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.172254", "author": "Schorno, Gillis & Fudge", "datePublished": "2018", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Journal of Experimental Biology" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1242/jeb.172254" } } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Can a shark really choke on hagfish slime?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Video evidence says yes, though it comes from New Zealand hagfish species, not the Atlantic hagfish. A 2011 baited-camera study found catsharks, spiny dogfish and conger eels could not successfully acquire their hagfish prey: slime filled the mouth and gill chamber in under four-tenths of a second, and the predators convulsed their gill arches in a gagging effort to clear it.", "citation": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Hagfish predatory behaviour and slime defence mechanism", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/srep00131", "author": "Zintzen et al.", "datePublished": "2011", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Scientific Reports" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1038/srep00131" } } } ] }, { "@type": "MusicRecording", "name": "Yü-gung - Fütter mein ego", "byArtist": { "@type": "MusicGroup", "name": "Einstürzende Neubauten" }, "genre": "Industrial Noise & Avant-Garde Experimental", "url": "https://open.spotify.com/track/41VTcYnDrvfQq4nctWCHVH" } ] } ```