God has created many beautiful creatures for humans to enjoy looking at. In his infinite wisdom, he also made it so that the really ugly ones live at the bottom of the ocean so we can pretend they don’t exist. Hagfish, also aptly known as ‘slime eels’, are one such species.

Hagfish eat dead fish by burrowing inside of them, tie themselves in knots to clean themselves off, and they’re the only known creature with a skull but no spine. They also produce huge amounts of disgusting slime when they’re agitated. This slime is incredibly strong, stretchy, and, well, slimy.

Hagfish slime has been called ‘the fiber of the future’, and has uses that range from bulletproof vests to repairing damaged tendons in the human body. Its main use, though, is to seriously gross you out when you see these pictures of it.