Jawless Fish Fun Facts for Kids

Interesting facts about Jawless Fish could you have known or unknown. Let’s learn about it offline.

Over 500 million years ago, the first fish evolved. Most of these early fish are now extinct, but a few remain – lampreys and hagfish. These fish look primitive, indeed. They have cartilage instead of bone and a long, eel-like body. They don’t have a jaw bone, but instead, a round, open mouth called an oral disc.

All About Jawless Fish: Sea Lampreys live in the ocean, as well as freshwater rivers and streams.

Fun Facts About Jawless Fish for Kids

Lampreys live in the ocean, as well as freshwater rivers and streams.

Lampreys start out as eggs and then larva. They live only a short time as adults. They lay eggs and then die.

Some lampreys are parasites. Their mouths have a strong power of suction like a vacuum. They attach themselves to other fish by their mouths. Then they bore into the fish with their teeth and suck the fish’s blood. Yuck!

Hagfish secrete mucous-like slime when threatened by a predator. This slime makes the predator gag and back off.

Hagfish look like eels, but they’re not. They belong to their own ancient family.

Hagfish eat dead animals. They use their sucking mouth parts to burrow into a carcass.

Hagfish are jawless fish. They look like eels, but they’re not. Read on for more all about jawless fish.