Death by slime. JV Chamary introduces us to the slimiest animal in the world who can use its slime to carry out deadly actions <\/p>
Hagfish are, probably, the slimiest animal in the world – and they can use their slime<\/a> for lethal purposes. <\/p> These eel-shaped, jawless fish possess specialised slime glands that have two types of cell: mucous cells that release mucin and thread cells<\/a> that exude skeins (loosely coiled fibres) of protein around 15cm long. When mixed in seawater, the mucins and skeins create a copious amount of slime incredibly quickly. <\/p> A Pacific hagfish, for example, can produce a litre in under 0.1 seconds. Hagfish slime is deployed as a defence to clog the gills<\/a> of fish predators, causing them to suffocate.<\/p>