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Fishery Bulletin 97(1), 1999 



lowest set where hagfish were found on this expedi- 

 tion (Fig. 1). 



Comments Because male hagfish rarely outnum- 

 ber females in any collection, it is unusual to find 

 that these four specimens are all males; testes are 

 developed, but no study was done to determine pres- 

 ence of sperm. Although both E. mccoskeri and E. 

 wisneri (described below) have eight GP, the pattern 

 of three fused cusps in both anterior and posterior 

 rows, notably higher numbers of prebranchial pores 

 and total cusps, and the sharp contrast of white bar- 

 bels against the dark face ofE. mccoskeri readily dis- 

 tinguish these two species. Also, the prominent white 

 margin around the entire caudal finfold in E. 

 mccoskeri is much less apparent in E. wisneri, show- 

 ing only as a thin white edge on the tip of the CFF. 

 The numbers of pouches along the dental muscle and 

 position of branching of the branchial aorta also dif- 

 fer slightly in these two 8-gilled species. Three other 

 species of Eptafretus with 8 GP and the 3/2 multicusp 

 pattern are listed below in the discussiom of £. wisneri. 



Eptatretus wisneri new species 



Holotype CAS 86429, female, 356 mm.TL, taken at 

 00=28. 0'S, 91°37.2'W, from a minnow trap at 1848 ft 

 [563 m], 14 Nov 1995, [JSL dive 3952]. 



Paratype SI097-76 [formerly CAS 86430] , male, 328 

 mm TL, taken at 00=17. 5'S, 91°38.9'W, from a min- 

 now trap at 1680 ft [512 m], 16 Nov, 1995 [JSL dive 

 3957]. 



Diagnosis Eight gills and apertures on each side, 

 last GA on left side confluent with PCD; 10 multi- 

 cusps, pattern of 3 fused cusps in each anterior row 

 and 2 in each posterior row; unicusps 9 each ante- 

 rior row and 8 each posterior row; total cusps 44; 

 total slime pores 76, prebranchial pores 9, branchial 

 pores 7, trunk pores 46-47, tail pores 13-14; face 

 mostly white, including mouth and base of labial 

 barbels; other barbels dark, with occasional white 

 spots or tips (Fig. 2, B and C); eye spots distinct, large 

 and irregularly shaped; VFF vestigial or absent, CFF 

 well developed. 



Description Body color brownish-black, head 

 slightly lighter, with large, distinct eye spots; gill 

 apertures with white margins; face nearly all white, 

 including area around mouth and base of labial bar- 

 bels; the VYF appears only as a pale line on the pos- 

 terior half of the trunk region and the tip of the CFF 

 has a thin pale margin. The first 3 gill pouches lie 

 along the dental muscle; the branchial aorta branches 



after fifth GP; the prebranchial length is about 21 

 percent of TL, trunk length about half of TL, the 

 greatest body depth in trunk region about equal to, 

 or slightly more than the tail depth, both about 8 to 

 9 percent of TL (Table 1). 



Etymology This species is named after Robert L. 

 Wisner, my friend and associate at Scripps Institu- 

 tion of Oceanography, for his invaluable assistance 

 with my myxinid research as well as his other con- 

 tributions to ichthyology. 



Distribution Known only from Galapagos Islands, 

 Ecuador, these two specimens were taken by min- 

 now trap on two different JSL dives, off Cabo Dou- 

 glas, Isla Fernandina (Narborough Island), at 512 

 and 563 meters (Fig. 1). 



Comments The holotye is a young female with 

 round eggs of less than one mm, with no ellipsoidal 

 oocytes and without evidence of tissue indicating 

 previous vitellogenesis. The paratype is a male with 

 well-developed testes, but no examination was done 

 for the presence of sperm. One specimen is more 

 brown than black, and the white face patterns are 

 slightly different; also, the barbels of one specimen 

 are partly white and more robust than those of the 

 other ( Fig. 2, B and C ). These slight differences could 

 be due to gender, although pigmentation is highly 

 variable and sexual dimorphism has not been re- 

 ported in hagfish. Barbels are seldom used as a spe- 

 cies character because they are often curled, making 

 accurate measurements difficult, and not reliable as 

 a body proportion because their lengths are so small 

 compared with TL. These two specimens have the 

 same pattern of multicusps and unicusp counts, and 

 slime pore counts are the same or only differ by one. 

 Therefore, until further collecting provides more 

 specimens for comparison, the slight differences in 

 pigmentation patterns and size of barbels are con- 

 sidered insignificant, and the two specimens are de- 

 scribed as one species. 



Discussion Eptatretus wisneri is readily distin- 

 guished from E. mccoskeri because of its multicusp 

 pattern of 3/2 (three on each anterior and two on each 

 posterior row), lower numbers of total cusps, nota- 

 bly lower number of prebranchial and total slime 

 pores, as well as the darker barbels and the white 

 areas over most of the face. Three other eight-gilled 

 Eptatretus with the 3/2 multicusp pattern are E. 

 octatrema Barnard (1923) from South Africa, E. 

 indrambarayai Wongratana (1983) from the Anda- 

 man Sea (N.E. Indian Ocean), and E. okinoseanus 

 (Dean, 1904) from Japan). However, they are not con- 



