Abstract. — Three new species 

 of the genus Eptatretus-E. mccon- 

 naugheyi, from off Southern Califor- 

 nia and Northern Baja Cahfornia, 

 and an isolated population in the 

 southern portion of the Gulf of Cali- 

 fornia; E.fritzi. known only from the 

 immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Is- 

 land. Mexico; andE. sinus, confined 

 to the midriff area of the Gulf of 

 California— are described. New data 

 are presented for E. dearii and E. 

 stoutii. A neotype is designated for 

 E. stoutii. 



Despite the extensive ranges of £■. 

 deani (southeastern Alaska to Gua- 

 dalupe Island, Mexico) and E. stoutii 

 (Vancouver Island, Canada, to Pt. 

 San Pablo, about 80 miles southerly 

 from Cedros Island, Mexico), no ap- 

 preciable differences were found in 

 counts and body proportions within 

 each species. However, the disjunct 

 populations of £". mcconnaugheyi dis- 

 play significant differences (i-'>0.001) 

 in numbers of trunk and total slime 

 pores; in all other characters the two 

 populations are very similar. 



Sex ratios for four of the species 

 are notably uneven, ranging between 

 (iO% and 74% female, 26% and 40% 

 male. The sex ratio for E. stoutii is 

 essentially even, 49% female and 

 .51% male. 



Three New Species of Hagfishes, 

 Genus Eptatretus (Cyclostomata, 

 Myxinidae), from the Pacific Coast 

 of North America, with New Data 

 on E. deani and E. stoutii 



Robert L. Wisner 

 Charmion B. McMillan 



Marine Bioiogy Research Division. A-002 



Scnpps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California 92093 



Manuscript accepted 11 June 1990. 

 Fishery Bulletin, U.S. 88:787-804. 



This study continues our efforts on 

 the genus Eptatretus, a part of the 

 unfinished work of Carl L. Hubbs 

 (deceased 30 June 1979). Two previ- 

 ous studies (McMillan and Wisner 

 1984, Wisner and McMillan 1988) 

 and this have resulted in descriptions 

 of seven new species of Eptatretus, 

 two from off Central Chile, one each 

 from the Hawaiian and Philippine 

 areas, and three herein. Also, we 

 have described a new species, Nema- 

 myxine kreffti, from off Rio de Plata, 

 Argentina (McMillan and Wisner 

 1984). In addition, a study on the 

 gemi?,Myxine is progressing, involv- 

 ing at least six new species from off 

 the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of 

 North and South America. 



The present effort includes the 

 largest amount of study material, 

 about 2300 specimens. Many speci- 

 mens oi E. stoutii and E. deani are 

 not included in the lists of material 

 examined due either to poor preser- 

 vation, to questionable capture data, 

 or to a surfeit of material from an 

 area, particularly off southern Cali- 

 fornia. All specimens from near the 

 extremes of ranges are included, as 

 are all specimens of the three new 

 species. 



Due to the availability for the first 

 time of large numbers of specimens 

 of £■. stoutii and E. deani. each hav- 

 ing extensive distributions, we at- 

 tempted to delineate an annual and 



spatial period of deposition (extru- 

 sion) of eggs for each. Capture data 

 for females containing eggs of at 

 least 20 mm length showed that eggs 

 of this size were present in both spe- 

 cies throughout the year throughout 

 all areas of their ranges. The max- 

 imum lengths of eggs were 28.6 mm 

 for E. stoutii and 52.3 for E. deani. 

 Although these lengths may not in- 

 dicate the ultimate lengths of eggs at 

 time of deposition, it is very probable 

 that depositi(jn by both species occurs 

 throughout the year and in all areas 

 of their distributions. 



Except for two collected in Novem- 

 ber, all specimens of E. fritzi were 

 taken in April; eggs to 33 mm were 

 present. Similarly, specimens of E. 

 sinus were taken within two short 

 periods, 20-22 January and 28 Feb- 

 ruary-2 March eggs to 32 mm were 

 present. 



The occtu'rence and arrangement of 

 head gi'ooves (lateral lines of authors) 

 in all species treated here agree well 

 with those described and figured by 

 Ayers and Worthington (1907:332- 

 333, figs. 5, 6) and by McMillan and 

 Wisner (1984:255, fig. 4). 



Methods and materials 



Methods of counting and measuring 

 are those recommended by McMillan 

 and Wisner (1984) and Wisner and 

 McMillan (1988). Features used in 



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