McMillan: Three species of hagfish from the Galapagos Islands 



111 



are now believed to have no sen- 

 sory purpose. Because they are 

 not considered a species-specific 

 character and have no taxo- 

 nomic value for the present 

 study, they are not included in 

 the species descriptions. 



Counts of cusps and total 

 slime pores are somewhat simi- 

 lar for these new Eptatretus spe- 

 cies, but there are significant 

 differences in the multicusps, 

 numbers of gill pouches, and 

 prebranchial slime pores which 

 readily distinguish each of them. 

 Some differences are found in 

 the white patterns on the face 

 and barbels of the seven pig- 

 mented specimens (Fig. 2), but 

 color cannot be assigned major 

 importance as a species charac- 

 ter with such a small sample 

 size. 



Material and methods 



All new specimens for this study 

 were collected by John E. Mc- 

 Cosker et al using the research 

 submersible Johnson Sea-link 

 (JSL), on the California Academy of Sciences and 

 Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Galapagos 

 Expedition during November 1995. The three new 

 species collected by the California Academy of Sci- 

 ences and described below were among eight speci- 

 mens taken in four trap sets; additional specimens 

 (nontypes) of Galapagos Eptatretus were given to the 

 Institute Nacional de Pesca, Guayaquil, Ecuador, and 

 were not available for study. Collection data and dis- 

 position of specimens are listed in the treatment of 

 each new species. Institutions in which type speci- 

 mens have been deposited are the California Acad- 

 emy of Sciences, San Francisco (CAS), United States 

 National Museum, Washington, D.C. (USNM), and 

 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, Cali- 

 fornia (SIO). 



McCosker^ described the method of capture as fol- 

 lows: "Hagfish were collected with a small, galva- 

 nized wire commercial two-fyked minnow trap, about 

 30 by 50 cm, with 2 cm openings at each end. The 



Figure 1 



Principal islands of the Galapagos Archipelago, showing collection locations of the three 

 new species of Eptatretus:  = £. grouseri;  = £ mccoskeri; and A = E. wisneri. 



^ McCosker, J. E. 1996. California Academy of Sciences, 

 ~=r Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA, 941 18-4599. Personal 

 commun. 



traps were baited with fish or molluscs, or both, 

 weighted and set with a pinger and short float line 

 to be retrieved on the next dive [about 8 h later]; all 

 traps were set among boulders, often on steep slopes." 

 McCosker further reported that every set resulted 

 in hagfish so elusive that many escaped traps dur- 

 ing or after retrieval. Hagfish were also seen, but 

 not taken, at 267 m off East Seymour Island, at 274 

 m off Isla Floreana (Charles Island), and off Isla San 

 Salvador (James Island) at 884 m over sand bottom, 

 at 6.54°C. Although no study material resulted from 

 these sets, the reports furnish information on the 

 little-known habitat of these benthic fish and indi- 

 cate locations for further collecting effort. 



Methods of measuring and counting follow those 

 of McMillan and Wisner (1984) and Wisner and 

 McMillan (1995). Counts of gill pouches (GP), gill 

 apertures (GA), and cusps are noted for both sides, 

 but body proportions and slime pore counts are for 

 the left side only. Low power magnification was re- 

 quired to discern head grooves and fusion of multicusps. 

 Most of the specimens are twisted and previously cut, 

 making some measurements and counts difficult; all 

 specimens were measured several times and averages 



