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Glite Dictionary
🐟 A jawless fish 🦑 A slime-producing fish
Eptatretus

Eptatretus

9.9
A group of sea hagfish that make slime to protect themselves
  • proper noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : Eptatretus
  • Two species of hagfish are commonly found off Oregon: Pacific hagfish, Eptatretus stouti, and black hagfish, E. deani.

Examples

  • Hagfish, Eptatretus spp., of the class Agnatha, family Myxinidae, are among the most primitive and unique of fishes.

    Academic text (1993)

  • The Pacific hagfish, Eptatretus stouti, is known for its ability to produce large amounts of slime when threatened.

  • Researchers studied the Eptatretus genus to understand how hagfish use slime as a defense mechanism against predators.

  • In marine environments, the Eptatretus species can often be observed hiding in crevices during the day.

Surface Forms

Eptatretus main

Etymology

Eptatretus combines Greek pieces epta- 'seven' and -tretus 'holes', so it literally means 'seven holes'. That's why the genus is named for hagfish with seven gill slits, a group famous for the slime they release to escape danger.