Eptatretus stoutii
Pacific Hagfish
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Myxini (Hagfishes)
Myxiniformes (Hagfish)
Myxinidae (Hagfishes)
Eptatretus
Eptatretus stoutii (Pacific Hagfish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: eel-like. No true fins - one dorsal finfold, far back, median, very low, continuous with caudal; caudal broad, rounded; ventral finfold very low, origin somewhat posterior to last gill pore, extending to anus (Ref. 6885). Dark brown, tan, gray, or brownish red, often tinted with blue or purple, never black, lighter ventrally, rarely with large patches of white; preserved specimens light brown (Ref. 6885).
Distribution
Eastern Pacific: southeastern Alaska to Bahia San Pablo, central Baja California, Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Marine. demersal. depth range 16-966 m.
Biology
Inhabits fine silt and clay bottoms (Ref. 6885). Enters large fishes by way of the mouth and anus and feed on its viscera and muscles (Ref. 6885). May greatly diminish catches taken with fixed gears (Ref. 6885). Produces mucilaginous slime when harassed (Ref. 6885). Probably exhibits hermaphroditism (Ref. 56947). Due to its primitive metabolism it is collected for research purposes (Ref. 6885). TBK: demerspelag.
Max length: 63.5 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: true hermaphroditism; fertilization: external; nonguarders. Copulatory organ absent (Ref. 51361). Presence of bisexual juvenile gonad, requires further investigation regarding hermaphroditism (Ref. 56947). In one study (Ref. 40710), hermaphroditism is exhibited by only 0.2% of the individuals studied.
IUCN Red List Status: Data Deficient (DD), assessed 2009-12-11. Resilience: Low (Fec = 28).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest; aquarium: public aquariums.
References
Hart, J.L. (1973) Pacific fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 180:740 p.
Lamb, A. and P. Edgell (1986) Coastal fishes of the Pacific northwest. Madeira Park, (BC, Canada): Harbour Publishing Co. Ltd., 224 p.
Fernholm, B. (1998) Hagfish systematics. p. 33-44. In J.M. Jørgensen, J.P. Lomholt, R.E. Weber and H. Malte (eds.) The biology of hagfishes. Chapman & Hall, London. 578 p.
Patzner, R.A. (1998) Gonads and reproduction in hagfishes. p. 378-395. In J.M. Jørgensen, J.P. Lomholt, R.E. Weber and H. Malte (eds.) The biology of hagfishes. Chapman & Hall, London. 578 p.
Love, M.S., C.W. Mecklenburg, T.A. Mecklenburg and L.K. Thorsteinson (2005) Resource inventory of marine and estuarine fishes of the West Coast and Alaska: A checklist of North Pacific and Arctic Ocean species from Baja California to the Alaska-Yukon border. U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Seattle, Washington, 98104.
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