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

Translator: Cindy So Reviewer: Thomas Tam

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

當架貨車急速煞停 車入面有個貨箱跣咗出嚟

hit an approaching Prius and spilled its contents.

撞落架豐田 Pirus 度 入面啲嘢灑到一地都係

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

嗰啲就係幾千公斤 活生生嘅盲鰻

also known as slime eels.

又叫做黏鰻魚

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

2017 年嘅呢場車禍 搞到一片混亂：

the highway was littered with wriggling fish

公路上周圍都係 蠕動緊嘅盲鰻

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

消防員用咗七個鐘頭先將黐住喺地面 嗰層厚厚嘅黏液清除乾淨

Astonishingly good looks aside,

盲鰻除咗樣靚之外

the standout strength of all hagfishes is their slime.

最出眾嘅長處就係佢哋嘅黏液

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

事實上，佢哋應該係 地球上最黐𥹉𥹉嘅動物

But why be so slimy?

但係點解佢哋要黐𥹉𥹉嘅呢？

Watch and learn.

睇埋落去就知喇

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

呢條盲鰻用靈敏嘅嗅覺 同皮膚上一點點好似味蕾嘅器官

and the tastebud-like organs dotting its skin.

偵測到一條死魚

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

佢露出一排排好壯觀嘅齒狀結構 咬落去第一啖

A shark glides on to the scene and suddenly lunges.

一條鯊魚游過嚟 突然之間撲埋去

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

盲鰻畀鯊魚強而有力嘅上下顎困住咗 睇起上嚟實死無生

but the hagfish has some tricks up its sleeve.

但係盲鰻有招獨門祕技

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

鯊魚咬緊啲牙齒 但係根本冇盲鰻骨頭可以咬碎

only flexible cartilage.

佢咬到嘅只係柔韌嘅軟骨

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

加上因為盲鰻 鬆拋拋嘅皮膚包住身體

the pressure from the bite

咬落去造成嘅壓力

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

令盲鰻嘅重要器官 輕輕噉跣開咗

avoiding damage.

避免受損

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

呢個就係一條麵 喺件寬鬆嘅潛水衣裏面嘅好處

Meanwhile, the hagfish also actively repels the shark

同時，盲鰻亦會噴出 多到嚇親人嘅黏液

by spewing a stupendous supply of slime.

積極噉擊退鯊魚

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

盲鰻身體每邊 大概有一百個黏液腺

Within them are mucus and thread cells.

當中有黏液細胞同線細胞

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

黏液細胞充斥住 幾百個含有濃縮黏液囊

while each thread cell contains an intricately coiled protein fiber.

而每個線細胞就含有 錯綜複雜盤繞嘅蛋白纖維

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

盲鰻收縮黏液腺周圍嘅肌肉

causing the cells to eject their contents into the seawater.

將細胞入面嘅嘢 射出去海水嗰度

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

黏液囊瞬間發漲爆破

and the protein fibers unravel.

而啲蛋白質纖維就會散開

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

佢哋會一齊膨脹到 原本體積嘅一萬倍

instantly creating liters of slime.

即時製造出幾公升嘅黏液

Because the substance is composed of mucus

由於嗰啲物質係由黏液構成

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

並受到無數極之纖細 而強韌嘅絲狀纖維所強化

the slime is incredibly soft yet tough.

所以呢啲黏液十分之柔軟 但又好結實

It lodges in the shark’s delicate gills,

啲黏液會撠喺鯊魚脆弱嘅鰓入面

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

當鯊魚窒息 想清除嗰啲黏液嗰陣

it releases the hagfish.

就會放開條盲鰻

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

而家條盲鰻脫離咗死亡威脅

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

但係佢亦都陷入咗兩難

trapped in a cloud of its own suffocating slime.

被困喺自己造成嘅 一團令人窒息嘅黏液度

So what does it do?

佢會點做呢？

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

佢將自己打成一個結

Starting at its tail and passing its body through,

從尾部開始，畀身體穿過

the hagfish effectively wipes away its own slime.

有效率噉擦甩自己嘅黏液

Apparently unfazed by the whole encounter,

佢睇落全程都好淡定

it returns to its meal.

仲返去繼續食嘢

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

當佢食到條屍體 冇咁容易嚼嘅部位

Voila! The hagfish ties itself in yet another knot

嗱，佢又將自己打成個結

to gain leverage and yank off the meat.

方便借力扯甩嚿肉

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

盲鰻嘅黏液好犀利 人類都想仿製

Currently, a lot of athletic and safety gear

而家，好多運動同安全裝備

is made from non-renewable petroleum-based fibers.

都係由不可以再生嘅 石油纖維所造成

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

但係盲鰻嘅黏液纖維線性能 可以媲美尼龍之類嘅纖維

And fibers modeled after those in hagfish slime may present

而靠模仿盲鰻黏液嚟製作嘅纖維

a much more sustainable alternative.

有可能成為 更具持續性嘅替代品

Meanwhile, hagfish slime is also being explored in military contexts

同時，喺軍事領域上 探索緊利用盲鰻嘅黏液

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

作為一種唔會致命 截停船隻嘅武器

by sliming up their propellers.

方法係黐住啲船嘅螺旋槳

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

盲鰻除咗精通使用黏液 同埋打結嘅藝術

hagfish have four little hearts

仲有四個細嘅心臟

and can survive 36 hours without oxygen unscathed.

同喺 36 小時無氧氣底下 乜事都冇噉繼續存活

Oh, and they also clean the seafloor

佢哋亦會清潔河床

and cycle essential nutrients in the deep sea.

同埋喺深海入面 循環必需嘅養分

Proto-hagfish were navigating the ocean’s depths

最原始嘅盲鰻 早喺超過三億年前

more than 300 million years ago—

就喺深海入面游嚟游去——

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

喺盤古大陸仲未分裂 恐龍開始喺世上漫步之前

Having persisted through multiple mass extinction events,

盲鰻捱過咗多次 大規模嘅生物滅絕事件

hagfish have just about seen it all.

世事都畀佢哋睇透喇

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

睇嚟佢哋而家都仲有 「滑」得好地地嘅粘液