The Fish That Fills the Sea with Slime
Grab a hagfish and, in a fraction of a second, it fills the water around it with litres of slime. In 2017, a lorry spilled a load of them onto a highway.
What was reported
Hagfish are eel-shaped deep-sea fish with no jaws, no proper backbone and four hearts. When attacked, they release a tiny amount of fluid that expands almost instantly in seawater into a huge cloud of slime, enough to clog the gills of a predator such as a shark.
In July 2017, a lorry carrying hagfish in Oregon overturned on a coastal highway, and the frightened fish covered the road and several cars in slime.
Explanations offered
The slime contains extremely thin, strong threads that trap water. Scientists are studying it for use in fabrics and materials. Hagfish are among the oldest groups of living fish, and they feed on dead animals on the sea floor.
- When
- A highway was covered in 2017
- Where
- Off Depoe Bay, Oregon, USA
- Witnesses
- Divers, fishermen and drivers on an Oregon highway
- Status
- Confirmed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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