During our ocean explorations cruises, we have observed two species of hagfish, also known as "slime eels". The deeper living black hagfish commonly occurs in depths of 400 - 1200 meters. The Pacific hagfish, pictured here at 280 meters, commonly are found from shallow depths down to 400 meters. During last night's transect, a significant portion of the hagfish observed were resting on the bottom in this curled position. Image courtesy of Lewis and Clark 2001, NOAA/OER.
