Hagfish: The world's slimiest creatures - Noah R. Bressman and Douglas Fudge

翻译人员: Siyu Lian 校对人员: Yuwei Wu

As the truck screeched to a halt, one of its containers slid off,

货车在刺耳声中刹住时， 其中的一个货箱滑落，

hit an approaching Prius and spilled its contents.

砸到了附近的汽车。 货箱里的东西散落一地。

Those contents happened to be thousands of kilograms of live hagfish,

这些东西是成千上万活着的盲鳗，

also known as slime eels.

也被称作粘液鳗鱼。

The result of this 2017 car accident was an absolute mess:

2017 年的这场车祸 导致了一团乱的现场。

the highway was littered with wriggling fish

公路上到处都是活蹦乱跳的小鱼，

and coated in a thick slime that took the fire department 7 hours to clear.

消防部门花了 7 小时才 清理干净厚厚一层的粘液。

Astonishingly good looks aside,

除了令人惊叹的外表，

the standout strength of all hagfishes is their slime.

盲鳗独特的能力就是它们的粘液。

In fact, they’re probably Earth’s slimiest animals.

事实上，它们是地球上 最黏糊糊的动物。

But why be so slimy?

但为什么它们这么黏糊糊呢？

Watch and learn.

一起观察并了解它们，

This hagfish has detected a dead fish using its keen sense of smell

这只盲鳗利用其敏锐的嗅觉 和遍布其皮肤的味蕾式器官

and the tastebud-like organs dotting its skin.

发现了一条死鱼。

Revealing imposing rows of toothlike structures, it takes the first bite.

盲鳗露出一排排气派的齿状结构， 它咬下了第一口。

A shark glides on to the scene and suddenly lunges.

一只鲨鱼游入视线范围， 忽然猛扑过来。

Being caught in the shark’s powerful jaws may seem like a guaranteed death sentence,

被鲨鱼有力的牙齿咬住 似乎已经预示了死亡的降临，

but the hagfish has some tricks up its sleeve.

但盲鳗有一些逃生的小技巧。

The shark’s teeth clench down but there are no bones to crush—

鲨鱼的巨齿紧咬不放， 但没有可以咬碎的骨头，

only flexible cartilage.

只有灵活的软骨。

And because the hagfish’s skin is so loosely attached to the rest of its body,

这是因为盲鳗的皮肤松散地 连接着其他的身体部分，

the pressure from the bite

鲨鱼咬合的压力

causes the hagfish’s essential organs to slip out of the way,

导致盲鳗的重要器官 从皮肤中脱落来避免伤害。

avoiding damage.

This is where being a noodle in a baggy wetsuit really pays off.

这就是为什么作为一根面条 在宽松的潜水服里这么有用。

Meanwhile, the hagfish also actively repels the shark

同时，盲鳗喷出大量的粘液

by spewing a stupendous supply of slime.

来主动驱赶鲨鱼。

Around a hundred slime glands line each side of the hagfish’s body.

盲鳗的身体两侧都有 大约一百个粘液腺。

Within them are mucus and thread cells.

粘液腺内是粘液和线状细胞。

The mucus cells are packed with hundreds of vesicles of condensed mucus

粘液细胞内有数百个 凝结粘液的小泡，

while each thread cell contains an intricately coiled protein fiber.

而每个线状细胞里都含有 错综复杂的蛋白质纤维。

The hagfish contracts the muscles surrounding some of its slime glands,

盲鳗收缩一些自己 粘液腺周围的肌肉，

causing the cells to eject their contents into the seawater.

导致细胞将其内物喷出到海水中。

In a fraction of a second, the mucus vesicles swell and burst,

在几分之一秒内，

and the protein fibers unravel.

粘液囊膨胀并破裂， 蛋白质纤维解开了。

Together, they expand to 10,000 times their original volume,

它们一起扩大到原来 体积的 10,000 倍，

instantly creating liters of slime.

瞬间创造出数升粘液。

Because the substance is composed of mucus

这是因为该物质是由粘液组成的，

and reinforced with numerous superfine and strong silk-like fibers,

并以无数超细和 强有力的丝状纤维加固。

the slime is incredibly soft yet tough.

因此这种粘液非常柔软， 但又非常坚韧。

It lodges in the shark’s delicate gills,

这种粘液卡在鲨鱼脆弱的鳃中,

and as the shark chokes and tries to clear the slime,

当鲨鱼窒息并试图清除粘液时，

it releases the hagfish.

盲鳗便可以逃出来。

Now, the hagfish is free from the jaws of death.

盲鳗逃脱了鲨鱼的死亡之口，

But it’s in a dilemma of its own doing,

却陷入了自己造成的困境中。

trapped in a cloud of its own suffocating slime.

盲鳗被困在一团自己产生的 令人窒息的粘液中。

So what does it do?

它应该怎么办呢？

Well, it ties itself in a knot, of course.

首先，它将自己的身体打成一结。

Starting at its tail and passing its body through,

盲鳗从尾巴开始打结 到剩下的身体部位，

the hagfish effectively wipes away its own slime.

它成功地抹去了自己的粘液。

Apparently unfazed by the whole encounter,

盲鳗显然对整个遭遇不以为然，

it returns to its meal.

它回去吃自己的大餐了。

When it gets to a tougher part of the carcass...

当盲鳗吃到尸体较硬的部分时，

Voila! The hagfish ties itself in yet another knot

瞧！它又把自己打了个结，

to gain leverage and yank off the meat.

来获得杠杆作用把肉拽下来。

The hagfish’s slime is so remarkable that people are trying to emulate it.

盲鳗的粘液十分非凡， 以至于人们纷纷效仿。

Currently, a lot of athletic and safety gear

现在很多的运动和安全装备是由

is made from non-renewable petroleum-based fibers.

不可再生的石油基纤维制成的。

But hagfish slime threads rival the properties of materials like nylon.

但盲鳗的粘液线可与尼龙等 材料的特性相媲美。

And fibers modeled after those in hagfish slime may present

而仿照盲鳗粘液中的纤维可能

a much more sustainable alternative.

提供了一个更可持续的替代方案。

Meanwhile, hagfish slime is also being explored in military contexts

盲鳗粘液在军事方面的用途 也在被探索，

as a non-lethal weapon that could be used to stop boats

粘液可以作为一种非致命的武器，

by sliming up their propellers.

通过粘住螺旋桨来阻止船的前行。

In addition to mastering the art of slime and knot-tying,

除了作为粘液和打结的大师，

hagfish have four little hearts

盲鳗有四个在没有氧气的情况下

and can survive 36 hours without oxygen unscathed.

可以存活 36 小时的小心脏。

Oh, and they also clean the seafloor

盲鳗还可以清理海底和循环使用

and cycle essential nutrients in the deep sea.

深海中的重要营养物质。

Proto-hagfish were navigating the ocean’s depths

3 亿多年前，

more than 300 million years ago—

在恐龙游荡之前， 也是潘加群岛还存在时，

before dinosaurs roamed and back when Pangea was still a thing.

原始的盲鳗已经在海洋深处游行。

Having persisted through multiple mass extinction events,

在经历了多次大规模灭绝事件后，

hagfish have just about seen it all.

盲鳗已经见识过一切，

And it would appear that they’re still having a wonderful slime.

而且它们还保留了美好的粘液。