How do hagfishes use their horny tooth plates to feed?

Hagfishes, which are jawless vertebrates classified as agnathans, feed by using specialized, comblike horny tooth plates located on the floor of the mouth.12

When a hagfish detects the scent of food—such as a dead or crippled fish—it locates the carcass and often coils its body around it. To consume the meal, the hagfish bites into the flesh by repeatedly protruding and retracting these horny tooth plates. In some cases, they bore their way into the bodies of their prey, allowing them to feed from the inside out. These structures are considered epidermal teeth, which are hard, horny projections that are analogous to, but not homologous with, the true teeth found in other vertebrates.123