114 



Fishery Bulletin 97(1), 1999 



lb Eight gill pouches and apertures each side 2 



2a Prebranchial slime pores 14-15, trunk pores 40-42, tail pores 10-12; total pores 72-74, total cusps 

 48-51, multicusps 12 (3 in each row); nasal barbels completely white; face mostly dark with a small 

 white area around mouth and on labial barbels E. mccoskeri, new species 



2b Prebranchial slime pores 9; trunk pores 46-47, tail pores 13-14; total pores 76, total cusps 44, 

 multicusps 10 (3 in anterior, 2 in posterior rows), nasal barbels dark with occasional white tips; 

 face, mouth, and base of labial barbels nearly all white E. wisneri, new species 



Eptatretus grouseri new species 



Holotype CAS 86428, female, 378 mm TL, taken 

 at 00°14.6'S, 91°26.6'W, in a minnow trap at 2370 ft 

 [722 m], 17 November 1995. 



Paratype SI097-77 (formerly CAS 86428), 142 mm 

 TL, (juvenile, sex not determined), taken with the 

 holotype. 



Diagnosis Five or six gill pouches and apertures 

 each side, last GA confluent with PCD on left side. 

 Multicusps 3 in anterior and 2 in posterior rows, 9 

 unicusps in each anterior and 8 in each posterior row, 

 total cusps 44; slime pore counts: prebranchial 12- 

 13, branchial 4-5, trunk 44-46, tail 14—15, total slime 

 pores 76-77; ventral fmfold (VFF) vestigial, caudal 

 fmfold (CFF) well developed. 



Description Both specimens have a bluntly rounded 

 rostrum; barbels well developed, first two pairs about 

 equal, third pair slightly longer; greatest body depth 

 in trunk region about the same as tail depth, both 

 only about 6 to 7 percent of TL; prebranchial length 

 about 23 percent of TL, trunk length about 54 per- 

 cent of TL. Although the two specimens differ greatly 

 in size and color, counts of pores and cusps are very 

 similar (Table 1). The holotype has tiny round eggs 

 less than one mm in diameter, no ellipsoidal devel- 

 oping eggs and no tissue indicating previous large eggs. 

 Body color brownish-black, head region dark brown; 

 eye spots prominent, nearly round; face dark with small 

 white area around mouth and on tips of barbels (Fig. 

 2A); VFF vestigial, with pale margin on posterior third; 

 cloacal opening white; GA widely spaced with branchial 

 slime pores posterior to and just slightly below each 

 aperture; all GA on the right side and all but the sec- 

 ond on the left side have white margins. The second 

 gill pouch on the right side of the holotype is either 

 undeveloped or degenerated; it appears only as thick- 

 ened muscle tissue connecting the ABD from the phar- 

 ynx with the EBD leading to the external GA. Only 

 one GP lies along the tip of the dental muscle; the bran- 

 chial aorta splits after the fifth (last) GP. 



The paratype has six normally rounded GP on each 

 side, the first two along the dental muscle with the 



aorta branching after the fifth GP. Possibly an al- 

 bino, this tiny specimen is an unusual ivory to light 

 tan body color, the prebranchial area slightly lighter 

 with eye spots barely discernible. Also, the area 

 around the mouth and cloaca are lighter than the 

 body; the trunk region is just dark enough to show a 

 white margin on the VFF. The slime pore openings 

 are very small, but easily detected because the sacs 

 bulge just under the thin skin. 



The specimen is so young that it was not possible 

 to determine gender even with magnification. The 

 total cusp count only differs from that of the holo- 

 type by one, but they are very small and the 

 multicusp fusion pattern is too indistinct to discern 

 the number of fused cusps in the posterior rows with 

 any certainty. 



Etymology This species is dedicated to my son 

 David "Grouser" McMillan, a Chief Engineer in the 

 U.S. Merchant Marine, for his continued encourage- 

 ment of my hagfish studies and for his knowledge 

 and love of ships and the sea. 



Distribution Known only from Galapagos Islands, 

 Ecuador; both specimens were collected in JSL dive 

 3958 at 2370 ft [722 m] in Bolivar Channel, off'Cabo 

 Douglas, in a minnow trap set on a steep, sediment- 

 laden slope of an invertebrate-rich pinnacle of pil- 

 low lava. This was the deepest set in which hagfish 

 were collected on this expedition (Fig. 1). 



Comments The body proportions differ by about two 

 percent in prebranchial length and depth of body in 

 trunk region, possibly because one specimen is a ju- 

 venile. Pore and cusp counts, which remain the same 

 throughout the individual's life span, are very simi- 

 lar in both specimens. In this tiny paratype the first 

 GP is about 3.5 mm in diameter, with each subse- 

 quent GP decreasing in size posteriorly until the sixth 

 is only about 2 mm across. This difference has also 

 been noted in size of unicusps, in which the last one 

 is frequently much smaller at the end of each row, 

 apparently a normal growth pattern. I have not made 

 any study of changes in body proportions of hagfishes 

 from juvenile to adult stage because very small speci- 

 mens are seldom collected. The capture of this tiny 



