Myxinidae

black hagfish

Eptatretus deani

Slime producing fish not an eel

• Black
• Regional distribution
• Marine fish
• Pacific Ocean
• North America
• Anguilliform
• Large

Eptatretus deani, the black hagfish, is a species of hagfish. Common to other species of hagfish, their unusual feeding habits and slime-producing capabilities have led members of the scientific and popular media to dub the hagfish as the most "disgusting" of all sea creatures. Although hagfish are sometimes called "slime eels", they are not eels at all.