The Hagfish Motto: "Love the skin you're in!"

I write at length about the hagfish in The Big Book of Gross Stuff. To that, I’ll add a disgusting tidbit about these slimy creatures that I just saw on Ugly Overload:

[Hagfish] eat through their skin. Seriously: their skin actually absorbs nutrients faster than their intestines.

Oh my!

Bonus Fun Fact: October 20^th is Hagfish Day.

Photo by Tamara Frank for Science Insider,

illlustration by Russell Miller 

for The Big Book of Gross Stuff.

Hagfish Mucus!

In The Big Book of Gross Stuff, I write about the hagfish. 

Among other nasty things, the hagfish is famous for having ninety pores on its body that produce slime! 

This hagfish mucus is so sticky, you have to peel it off of you. . . as this photo (by Tim Winegard) shows!

The hagfish unleashes its snot!

The hagfish (a.k.a., the slime eel) oozes mucus from pores all over its body. It does this for defense . . . and as this hagfish being attacked by a shark shows, it works like a disgusting charm! (Sorry about the auto-play.)

It's Friday... time for a hagfish close-up!

Yay. Learn more about the slimy hagfish here ... and from this fine article by Matt Simon at Wired. (Photo by Brandon D. Cole/Corbis)

Ever wonder how much slime a hagfish can make?

About this much! 

Hold Everything!

Science Insider

You're telling me that YESTERDAY was Hagfish Day . . . and nobody told me?

You are in BIG trouble.

Today is Hag Fish Day!

Via.

Hag fish are pretty much the most disgusting creatures on the planet—and today is their day!

Among other things, hag fish give off a really thick slime when attacked by predators, allowing the hag fish to slip away. (Below.)

Ooh, and check out the mouth on that thing!

More hagfish facts in The Big Book of Gross Stuff, natch!