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Eptatretus strickrotti n. sp. (Myxinidae): First Hagfish Captured From a Hydrothermal Vent

¹ Zoological Museum, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen East, Denmark
² Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), Moss Landing, California 95039-9644

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: pdrmoller{at}snm.ku.dk

A single hagfish (Myxinidae, Eptatretus) specimen was recently captured at a hydrothermal vent site on the East Pacific Rise (38°S). This is the first capture of a member of the jawless fishes (agnathans) from a hydrothermal vent site. The specimen differs from all congeners by the very slender body (depth 2.9% of total length), the paired and median ventral nasal sinus papillae, and the presence of 10 afferent branchial arteries on the medial ventral aorta. It is further unique because of a combination of the following features: slime pore counts; paired dorsal nasal sinus papillae; 12 gill pouches and gill apertures; posterior left side of body widely separated from pharyngocutaneous duct; 3/2 multicusp configuration; ventral aorta bifurcated anteriorly between 2nd and 3rd gill pouches (counted from the snout toward the heart); and pink coloration. The specimen is here described as a new species named Eptatretus strickrotti. Molecular 16S rRNA data places this new species as the basal-most species of Eptatretus, providing important new insight to the evolution of hagfishes as a whole.

Abbreviations: BPP, Bayesian posterior probabilities • E, Eptatretus • GA, gill aperture • GP, gill pouche • P, Paramyxine • PCD, pharyngocutaneous duct • Q, Quadratus • TL, total length • VA, ventral aorta