16 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



1. Hagflsh (Myxine glutinosa Linnaeus) 



Jordan and Evermann, 1895-1900, p. 7. 



Description. — The hag, like the lamprey, lacks paired fins and fin rays. Its 

 skeleton is wholly cartilaginous, without bones, its mouth is similarly jawless, and 

 its skin is scaleless. It is easily recognized by its eel-like form; by its single finfold 

 (a fold of skin, not a true fin) running right around the tail and forward on the lower 

 surface of the body with no division into dorsal, caudal, and anal fins; by the single 

 gill pore on each side, just forward of the origin of the ventral finfold; by its lipless 

 mouth, stellate in outline when closed; by the single nasal aperture at the tip of the 

 snout; by its peculiar barbels or "tentacles," two flanking the mouth on either side 

 and four surrounding the nostril; and by the evertible tongue studded with rows of 

 horny rasplike "teeth." We might also mention the series of mucus sacs on either 

 side of the abdomen, and point out that the dorsal finfold originates two-thirds and 



Fig. 2.— Hagfish (.Myxine glutinosa). a, Adult, b. Egg. AfterDean 



the ventral one-third the distance back from snout to tip of tail, with the vent 

 piercing it. 



Hags vary in color, perhaps to correspond with the color of the bottom. They 

 are grayish brown or reddish gray above, variously suffused, mottled, or piebald 

 with darker or paler gray, brown, or bluish; below they are whitish or pale gray. 

 They grow to a length of about 1 foot to a foot and a half. 



General range. — Arctic seas and both coasts of the north Atlantic; south in 

 deep waters to the latitude of Cape Fear, N. C. (33° 50' N.). 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — The hag is only too common in the Gulf of 

 Maine; perhaps it is not absent from any considerable area of smooth bottom. Thus 

 it is abundant generally off the north end of Grand Manan, is reported from Passa- 

 maquoddy Bay and from various localities near Eastport, is to be found offshore on 

 muddy bottom all along the Maine coast, is caught at times in considerable numbers 



