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

譯者: Lily Liu 審譯者: Helen Chang

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

一輛行駛的貨車突然急煞 車上其中一個箱子滑落

hit an approaching Prius and spilled its contents.

砸中後方一輛豐田汽車 箱子中的東西隨之傾瀉而出

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

這好幾千公斤的東西 正是活生生的盲鰻

also known as slime eels.

也可稱作黏盲鰻

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

這起2017年發生的車禍 弄得一塌糊塗

the highway was littered with wriggling fish

公路上到處都是蠕動的盲鰻

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

也佈上一層厚厚的黏液 消防隊花了7個小時才清理乾淨

Astonishingly good looks aside,

除了驚奇的外觀

the standout strength of all hagfishes is their slime.

盲鰻非同尋常的優勢就是它的黏液

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

也許是世界上最黏稠的動物

But why be so slimy?

但為什麼會又黏又滑呢？

Watch and learn.

我們來一窺究竟

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

這隻盲鰻運用它敏銳的嗅覺 以及皮膚上點狀像是味蕾的器官

and the tastebud-like organs dotting its skin.

發現了一條死魚

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

盲鰻露出一排排齒狀部位 往死魚咬了下去

A shark glides on to the scene and suddenly lunges.

這時一隻鯊魚游了過來 突然快速向前衝

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

被鯊魚強而有力的雙顎咬到 看似離死期不遠

but the hagfish has some tricks up its sleeve.

不過盲鰻有一些法寶可以保護自己

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

鯊魚愈咬愈緊 卻咬不到一根骨頭

only flexible cartilage.

只咬到盲鰻彈性的軟骨組織

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

盲鰻鬆鬆垮垮的皮膚 和身體其他部位相連

the pressure from the bite

鯊魚咬下的力度

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

反而讓重要的器官得以避開 從這場危機逃脫

avoiding damage.

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

這就像是一條麵條 在寬鬆的潛水服裡面一樣

Meanwhile, the hagfish also actively repels the shark

這時 盲鰻噴出大量的黏液

by spewing a stupendous supply of slime.

想要趕跑鯊魚

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

盲鰻的身側各有上百條滑液腺

Within them are mucus and thread cells.

滑液腺包含黏液和端絲細胞

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

黏液細胞充斥數百個濃縮的黏液囊

while each thread cell contains an intricately coiled protein fiber.

每一個端絲細胞中 則有盤根錯節的蛋白纖維

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

盲鰻會收縮滑液腺附近的肌肉

causing the cells to eject their contents into the seawater.

迫使細胞將體內物質 向外排到海水中

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

頃刻間 黏液囊開始膨脹然後破裂

and the protein fibers unravel.

纏在一起的蛋白纖維就散開了

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

擴展成原本體積的一萬倍大

instantly creating liters of slime.

並迅速形成數公升多的黏質物

Because the substance is composed of mucus

由黏液構成的這個物質

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

還另有無數堅韌且絲綢般的纖維

the slime is incredibly soft yet tough.

讓它有著既軟又硬的特性

It lodges in the shark’s delicate gills,

黏液卡在鯊魚脆弱的鰓上

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

鯊魚瀕臨窒息時 會想要趕快清掉這些黏液

it releases the hagfish.

盲鰻此時就被放走了

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

逃離鯊魚魔掌的盲鰻 現已免於死亡的威脅

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

不過同時盲鰻也讓自己陷入困境中

trapped in a cloud of its own suffocating slime.

被自己的黏液束縛了

So what does it do?

該怎麼辦呢？

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

盲鰻將自己打了一個結

Starting at its tail and passing its body through,

從尾端打結 身體從中間穿過去

the hagfish effectively wipes away its own slime.

盲鰻便能輕鬆除去黏液

Apparently unfazed by the whole encounter,

彷彿沒有發生任何事一般 盲鰻泰然自若繼續享用牠的餐點

it returns to its meal.

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

如果盲鰻咬到殘骸比較結實的部位

Voila! The hagfish ties itself in yet another knot

你瞧！盲鰻就會再次將自己打結

to gain leverage and yank off the meat.

藉著打結的這個力量 大口啃食

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

盲鰻黏液的特性實在驚為天人 人類也想試著仿照

Currently, a lot of athletic and safety gear

近年 運動服飾及防護裝備

is made from non-renewable petroleum-based fibers.

很多都是從不可再生 且含石油成分的材質所製成

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

但盲鰻的黏液其實可媲美尼龍

And fibers modeled after those in hagfish slime may present

仿照盲鰻黏液特性製作出的材質

a much more sustainable alternative.

是個相對永續的替代選擇

Meanwhile, hagfish slime is also being explored in military contexts

另外 盲鰻黏液也運用在軍隊當中

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

作為一種非致命性武器 將黏液卡住螺旋槳

by sliming up their propellers.

迫使行駛的船隻停下

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

盲鰻除了靈活運用黏液和自體打結

hagfish have four little hearts

牠還有四顆小小的心臟

and can survive 36 hours without oxygen unscathed.

足以在36小時 無氧情況下安然無恙

Oh, and they also clean the seafloor

對了 盲鰻還會幫忙打掃海底

and cycle essential nutrients in the deep sea.

在深海回收必要的養分

Proto-hagfish were navigating the ocean’s depths

早在3億多年前 恐龍及盤古大陸出現前

more than 300 million years ago—

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

最原始的盲鰻 早已在海底展開探險

Having persisted through multiple mass extinction events,

歷經無數生物滅絕事件 盲鰻還能存活下來

hagfish have just about seen it all.

任何事牠都經歷過了

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

並且仍保有牠獨樹一幟的黏液