Myxine glutinosa

Myxine glutinosa
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Myxini
Order: Myxiniformes
Family: Myxinidae
Genus: Myxine
Species: M. glutinosa
Binomial name
Myxine glutinosa
Linnaeus, 1758

Myxine glutinosa, known as the Atlantic hagfish in North America, and often simply as the hagfish in Europe, is a species of jawless fish of the genus Myxine.

Contents

Distribution

The distribution of Myxine glutinosa in the eastern Atlantic Ocean extends from the western Mediterranean Sea and Portugal to the North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat and the Varanger Fjord.[1] It is also found in the western Atlantic Ocean from Baffin Island, Canada south to North Carolina.[2] A related species, the Gulf hagfish (Eptatretus springeri), occurs in the Gulf of Mexico.[3]

Description

The Atlantic hagfish may grow up to 2.5 feet (0.76 m) long, with no eyes and no jaws; its star-shaped mouth is surrounded by 6 barbels.[2] There is a single gill slit on each side of the eel-like body.[2] It has a total of 88–102 pores from which it can exude a slimy mucus.[1]

Ecology

Hagfish such as M. glutinosa feed on the carcasses of fishes, which they bore into through any available opening.[1][2]

References

External identifiers for Myxine glutinosa
EOL 207930
ITIS 159772
NCBI 7769
WoRMS 101170
Also found in: FishBase
  1. ^ a b c P. J. P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen & E. Tortonese, ed (1984/1986). "Hagfish (Myxine glutinosa)". Fishes of the NE Atlantic and the Mediterranean. http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=fnam&id=945. 
  2. ^ a b c d Michael Filisky & Roger Tory Peterson (1998). "Atlantic Hagfish". Peterson First Guide to Fishes of North America (2nd ed.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 10. ISBN 9780395911792. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Lr-5YlYlWhkC&pg=PA10. 
  3. ^ Edwin S. Iversen & Renate H. Skinner (2006). "Atlantic hagfish Myxine glutinosa". Dangerous Sea Life of the West Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico: A Guide for Accident Prevention and First Aid. Pineapple Press. p. 72. ISBN 9781561643707. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=MqyPjacQHFoC&pg=PA72. 

External links