MYXINIDAE 5 



I have been able to examine the type 1 of the species and to ascertain its identity. In 

 the eighth volume of his catalogue, published in 1870, Gunther listed six examples of 

 M. australis, collected at Sandy Point and Tyssen Islands by Dr R. O. Cunningham, 

 and also described a new species (M. affinis), based upon a single dried and shrivelled 

 example from an unknown locality. 2 In his synopsis of the genus published in 1899, 

 Garman recognized two closely related species from this region, distinguished chiefly 

 by differences in the numbers of teeth and pores and in the shape of the labrum (i.e. 

 the two forms here identified as australis and affinis), as well as a third (M. tridentiger), 

 distinguished by having the anterior three teeth confluent in each upper series. 3 The 

 species described by Garman as acutifrons, however, proves to be the same as Jenyns' 

 australis, and his australis is clearly the form here identified as affinis. In his revision 

 of the genus published in 191 3, Regan recognized only tridentiger and australis from 

 this region, regarding acutifrons and affinis as synonyms of the latter species. Smitt 

 (1898), Vaillant (1888), and others have regarded the southern Hag-fish as a mere variety 

 of Myxine glutinosa, Linnaeus, of the northern hemisphere, and this is the view taken 

 by Lahille, who in 191 5 gave a detailed description of a number of specimens of 

 Myxine from Ushuaia under the name M. glutinosa var. olivacea. Judging from his 

 description, these specimens were of the species here named M. affinis. It is true that 

 M. australis, Jenyns, is very closely related to M. glutinosa, but the latter appears to 

 have a longer and more slender body and a labrum of somewhat different shape. 



Numbers of teeth in M. australis and M. affinis 



M. affinis 



1 I am indebted to Dr C. Forster Cooper for the loan of this fish, which is preserved in the Zoological 

 Museum at Cambridge. It is 285 mm. long, and is in fair condition, although it is difficult to count the 

 pores along the body. 



2 It is quite impossible to count the pores on the body in the type of this species, but as the teeth number 

 11/11 it has been assumed that this is the same as the form here described with dark coloration, short 

 broad labrum, and higher numbers of teeth and pores. 



3 The fusion of three teeth is given by Gunther (1870) as a character of M. australis, but occurs in only 

 one example from Sandy Point, the specimen selected by Regan as the type of M. tridentiger. 



