548 



Fishery Bulletin 93(3), 1995 



species; numbers of trunk and total slime pores dif- 

 fer more widely, but there is frequent overlap. The 

 total numbers of cusps (Table 7) show the greatest 

 differences between species. The height of VFF shows 

 considerable intraspecific variation; for example, in 

 Myxine circifrons it varies between 1 and 12 mm. 

 Both the numbers of fused cusps and the number of 

 gill pouches are constant with only rare or aberrant 

 variation and are extremely useful in separating the 

 14 species into groups. Five species have a 3-cusp 

 multicusp on the anterior set of cusps. Of these five, 

 M. circifrons, M. mccoskeri, and M. robinsi have 5 

 gill pouches and M. fernholmi and M. debueni have 

 6; the only new world species with 7 gill pouches is 

 M. pequenoi. The remaining eight species have 6 gill 

 pouches and a 2-cusp multicusp in both anterior and 

 posterior sets of cusps. An additional, possibly diag- 

 nostic character is that Myxine mccoskeri and M. 

 pequenoi mature at much smaller sizes than do the 

 other species, and are here regarded as dwarfed. 

 Prior to the permanent Panamanian land bridge, M. 

 circifrons of the tropical Pacific, and M. mccoskeri 

 and M. robinsi of the southern Caribbean Sea, may 

 have represented the same species. Only these three 

 species have five gill pouches; they also have in com- 

 mon the 3-cusp multicusp on the anterior row, and 

 the anterior portions of the heads of M. circifrons 

 and M. robinsi are notably and consistently whiter 

 than in any of the other species. M. mccoskeri may 

 have independently developed a dwarfed condition 

 as well as a unique color pattern of reverse counter- 

 shading, fewer trunk pores, and anterior unicusps. 

 Hermaphroditism occurs frequently in all the large 

 collections except in Myxine circifrons. The fact that 

 in such a large number of hagfishes examined, only 

 one specimen was found with fully developed fila- 

 ments suggests that eggs are extruded very soon af- 

 ter becoming fully mature, regardless of time of year. 

 We have found no indications of sexual dimorphism 

 in color, body proportions, TL, or slime pore counts. 



Acknowledgments 



We greatly appreciate the efforts of all persons un- 

 known to us but responsible for making material 

 available. In particular we thank R. M. McCon- 

 naughey for his expertise and efforts in the trapping 

 of hagfishes. We also thank R. Melendez and G. 

 Pequeno for contributing specimens from southern 

 Chile. M. Stehmann, Institute fur Seefischerei, Ham- 

 burg, kindly provided valuable material from near 

 the Falkland Islands and high latitudes of the North- 

 western Atlantic Ocean. We are grateful to the Zoo- 

 logical Institute, Academy of Sciences, Leningrad, for 



specimens from the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. 

 We thank R. H. Rosenblatt, H. J. Walker, Bo 

 Fernholm, and J. S. Nelson for critically reading 

 the manuscript and offering valuable suggestions, 

 and R. M. McMillan for technical assistance in word 

 processing. 



Material examined 



Myxine circifrons 



SI067-118 (51), 38°00'N, 123°31'W, 732 m; SI064-449 (38), 

 32°54'N, 117°38'W, 961 m; SI059-257 (13), 32°35'N, 

 117°28'W, 1,208 m; SI074-611 (65), San Diego Trough, 

 1,201 m; SI066-7 (34), 32°32'N, 117°27'W, 1,190 m; SI068- 

 119 (34), 32°27'N, 117°27'W, 1,244 m; SI069-227 (15), 

 31°35'N, 116°05'W, 1,202 m; SI068-118 (110), 25°37'N, 

 109°43'W, 1,244 m; SI068-59 (14), 23°07'N, 109°19"W, 1,281 

 m; SIO68-60 (6), 23°07'N, 109°11'W, 1,830 m; SI068-119 

 (25), 25°36'N, 109°45'W, 1,491 m; SIO73-290 (4), 09°48'N, 

 85°42"W, 994 m; SI073-293 (3), 09°23'N, 85°00'W, 1,107 

 m; SI073-294 (17), 09°24'N, 85°06'W, 900 m; SI069-148 

 (7), 02°02'S, 81°10'W, 1,000 m; SIO90-26 (1), 03°15'S, 

 80°53'W, 960 m; SIO90-27, (1), 03°15'S, 80°55'W, 960 m; 

 SIO90-25, (2), 04°10'S, 81°27'W, 1,860 m; MCZ 49585 (1), 

 33°17'S, 77°05'W, 1,510 m. Twelve specimens from 

 IMARPE, with incomplete data, taken between 08°S and 

 17°S, 71° and 81°W, between 800 and 1,500 m. 



Myxine hubbsi 



SI092-127 (223), 32°40'N, 118°12'W, 1,830 m; SI065-451 

 (19), 32°40'N, 118°12'W, 1,742 m; SI065-452 (82), 32°38'N, 

 118°08'W, 2,009 m; SI068-676 (16), 32°39'N, 118°11'W, 

 1,830 m; SI071-116 ( 1 ), 28°52'N 115°50'W, 2,004 m; SI068- 

 60 (37), 23°08'N, 109°16W, 1,830 m; SI068-61 (2), 23°06'N, 

 109°13'W, 2,196 m; SI073-293 ( 16), 09°24'N, 85°06W, 1,107 

 m; SI083-288 (1), 09°44'N, 85°00'W, 2,181 m; SI073-293 

 (1), 09°24'N, 85°00'W, 1,102 m; SI092-114 (11), 03°41'S, 

 81°36'W, 2,440 m; SI092-115 (7), 08°26'S, 80°37'W, 1,930 

 m; SI072-176 (8), 21°37'S, 70°55'W, 2,114 m; MCZ-44897 

 (2), 34°12'S, 72°76'W, 1,475 m. Examined, but not listed, 

 are numerous collections of few specimens each from off 

 southern California. 



Myxine australis 



SI078-39 (8), 45 36'S, 74°11'W, 120 m; SIO78-40 (80), 

 50°30'S, 75°20'W, 80 m; SI078-41 (2), 54°15'S, 70°58'W, 4 

 m; SI078-43 (1), 55°03'S, 68°10'W, 30 m; SI078-44 (3), 

 55°49'S, 67°30'W; SI078-45 (2), 55°10'S, 65°30'W, 146 m; 

 SI078-49 (3), 54°46'S, 64°03'W, 23 m; SI078-51 (18), 

 54°45'S, 64°10'W, 14 m; USNM 3939 (20), 42°29'S, 78°46'W; 

 AMNH 4098 (2), 51°10'S, 69°30W; FURG-? (4), 48°18'S, 

 65°06"W; the following collections lack stated depths but 

 were taken in the area of the Straits of Magellan: MCZ 

 32518 (1); MCZ 8351 (6); MCZ 3836 (16); MCZ 3836 (16); 



