| Myxine glutinosa | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Myxini |
| Order: | Myxiniformes |
| Family: | Myxinidae |
| Genus: | Myxine |
| Species: | M. glutinosa |
| Binomial name | |
| Myxine glutinosa Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Synonyms[1][2] | |
| |
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.
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.[3] It is also found in the western Atlantic Ocean from Baffin Island, Canada south to North Carolina.[4] A related species, the Gulf hagfish (Eptatretus springeri), occurs in the Gulf of Mexico.[5]
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.[4] There is a single gill slit on each side of the eel-like body.[4] It has a total of 88–102 pores from which it can exude a slimy mucus.[3] Hagfish have very flexible bodies which allow them to manipulate themselves into knots.The knots created by the hagfish remove mucous from the body, allow them to escape tight spaces, pull potential prey from burrows, and because they have no opposable jaws it helps create leverage while they eat.[6]
Ecology
Hagfish such as M. glutinosa feed on the carcasses of fishes, which they bore into through any available opening.[3][4]
Trivia
Following an unofficial poll by the NRK P1 broadcaster in 1982, the hagfish was voted the national fish of Norway with over 4 000 votes, beating the second place (Atlantic Cod) by a large margin, as that fish only got 2,552 votes. However, the vote was most likely rigged and the result was overturned by the jury.[7]
References
- ^ Froese, R.; Pauly, D. (2017). "Myxinidae". FishBase version (02/2017). Retrieved 18 May 2017.
- ^ Van Der Laan, Richard; Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ronald (11 November 2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (1): 1–230. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. PMID 25543675.
- ^ a b c P. J. P. Whitehead; M.-L. Bauchot; J.-C. Hureau; J. Nielsen; E. Tortonese, eds. (1984/1986). "Hagfish (Myxine glutinosa)". Fishes of the NE Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
- ^ 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 978-0-395-91179-2.
- ^ 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 978-1-56164-370-7.
- ^ Haney, W. A., Clark, A. J., & Uyeno, T. A. (2019). Characterization of body knotting behavior used for escape in a diversity of hagfishes. Journal of Zoology. doi: 10.1111/jzo.12752
- ^ Friis, R. (1982): «Slimåler» raser mot NRK/torsken, VG, s. 33, 15. November 1982
Haney, W. A., Clark, A. J., & Uyeno, T. A. (2019). Characterization of body knotting behavior used for escape in a diversity of hagfishes. Journal of Zoology. doi: 10.1111/jzo.12752
External links
- Hagfish Myxine glutinosa Linnaeus 1758, Fishes of the Gulf of Maine by Henry B. Bigelow and William C. Schroeder