Hagfish Day
As one of the sea’s most hideous creatures, the hagfish represents all nature’s bizarre little creatures. Seek out the icky and disgusting on Hagfish Day.
When you think of ocean critters, we’re willing to bet you immediately think of the cute and iconic. There’s the big brown-eyed Harp Seal, the Majestic Orca, even crabs have been cutified, just take a look at Sebastian from Little Mermaid.
These are the creatures we tend to think of, but we often forget the hideous and disturbing, or just the plain homely creatures that inhabit the deep.
Hagfish Day reminds us that the ecology requires all sorts to keep our world healthy and in motion, so here’s to the unloved critters of the deep!
How to Celebrate Hagfish Day
There’s a lot of ways to celebrate Hagfish day, and most of them involve embracing the unpleasant. Creating a bouquet of the least attractive flowers you can find, writing haikus to all things icky and ugly.
Heck, even watching a marathon of Dirty Jobs may be a good way to spend the day, after all, dirty jobs are what the nasties of the deep excel in, cleaning up the messes we’d just as soon not look at.
History of Hagfish Day
So if it’s all about the hideous critters of the deep, why is it called Hagfish Day? Well, the Hagfish happens to have a lot of traits that make it disturbing, icky, and just downright unsettling to think about, but also serves a vital role in the ecology of the deep.
It’s a creature that shares an appearance with the eel, only goes a step further into the realm of ick by having no jaw, no bones, and no scales even, it’s basically just a slimy lump of meat.
Speaking of slime, the Hagfish oozes slime from its skin in such quantities that a 20-inch hagfish can fill a 2-gallon bucket in just moments.
Not quite squick-worthy enough for you? The hagfish also has one of the most unpleasant eating habits you can imagine. It finds dead prey and slides into its mouth or anus and slowly eats its way out from the inside, leaving empty bags of skin in its wake.
It’s truly something straight out of a horror movie, and yet without them, there would be a lot more carcasses littering the ocean floor.
Clearly the father of a million horror movie nightmares, the Hagfish stands to remind us that there are horribly unpleasant little beasties in the deep, but the world may be a much less pleasant place if we didn’t have them around.
Hagfish Day FAQs
Why is hagfish slime being studied for futuristic technology?
Hagfish slime is incredibly strong and stretchy. Scientists are exploring its use in creating biodegradable plastics, military body armor, and even artificial tissues for medicine.
The slime contains protein threads thinner than human hair but tougher than nylon. Some researchers believe it could replace petroleum-based materials in clothing or industrial applications​.
Has hagfish ever been considered a delicacy?
Yes! In Korea, hagfish is a popular dish. It is typically grilled alive, then seasoned with spices.
Some even eat it raw or use the slime as a thickener in soups. The texture is chewy, and the flavor is compared to eel. However, due to overfishing, hagfish populations are declining in some areas​.
Do hagfish have any cultural significance?
Hagfish appear in folklore in some Asian cultures, often as symbols of persistence due to their ability to survive in extreme conditions.
In Japan, they are sometimes called “shokko,” meaning “food thief,” since they sneak into fish traps and steal the catch​.
Are there any strange misconceptions about hagfish?
One odd myth is that hagfish are immortal because they have existed for 300 million years with little evolution.
In reality, they just have an ancient body design that has proven effective over time. Another misconception is that they are eels; they are actually more closely related to lampreys​.
How do hagfish escape predators in an unusual way?
Hagfish can tie themselves into knots! This helps them slip out of a predator’s grip or remove excess slime from their bodies.
Some hagfish also twist into a knot to anchor themselves while feeding inside carcasses​.
What is the weirdest way people celebrate Hagfish Day?
Some marine biology enthusiasts host slime-making contests using cornstarch and water to mimic hagfish slime.
Others prepare hagfish-inspired dishes. In 2017, a group of scientists created a hagfish-themed escape room where participants had to “slime” their way out​.
Has hagfish ever caused a major disaster?
Yes! In 2017, a truck carrying thousands of live hagfish overturned in Oregon, spilling them onto a highway.
Their slime coated the cars, causing accidents and making cleanup difficult. The event, dubbed “The Slime Spill,” became a viral news story​.
Can hagfish survive extreme environments?
Hagfish live in deep, oxygen-poor waters, some as deep as 16,000 feet.
They can survive for months without food and tolerate high levels of carbon dioxide, making them among the most resilient marine creatures​.
Why do some predators avoid hagfish, but others eat them?
Most predators avoid hagfish because their slime can suffocate them.
However, some sharks have learned to bite the hagfish, then shake it violently to remove the slime before eating it. This adaptation helps sharks avoid choking on the goo​.
How do hagfish contribute to forensic science?
Hagfish feeding behavior helps scientists estimate time of death for corpses found in water.
Since they eat from the inside out, researchers study how quickly they consume tissue to determine how long a body has been underwater​.
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