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Pacific hagfish

(Eptatretus stoutii)

 

Category: Fish

 

 

These jawless, primitive marine organisms inhabit the mesopelagic to abyssal zones of the Pacific Ocean. They are opportunistic feeders that will swarm a carcass that floats to the bottom of the sea and devour it from the inside out. Hagfish are known for the copious amounts of slime they produce when alarmed.

 

Data & Facts

Scientific Classification
Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Chordata
Class - Myxini
Order - Myxiniformes
Family - Myxinidae
Genus - Eptatretus
Species - E. stoutii

 
Did you know?
Interesting Animal Facts

ABC. It’s easy as Protandry

The largest, most aggressive female anemonefish rules the roost - she is the dominant member of the social group, and with one breeding male, the only one who reproduces. In anemonefish society, everybody knows where they stand in the hierarchy! So when she leaves the group, everybody moves up one spot - including the largest, most aggressive male, who undergoes a sex change to become the leader (and breeding female) of the group. While undergoing a sex change might sound drastic to humans, it is actually not all that uncommon in other species. Many do it, either naturally or due to environmental factors: fish, invertebrates, amphibians, some reptiles, even the occasional chicken!

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