294 PROFESSOR FRANK J. COLE 



The expenses of this research have been defrayed by a grant from the Government 

 Grant Committee. 



A. Habits of Myxine. 



The predaceous habits of Myxine have been known for a long time. Linn^us, who 

 classified it among the "vermes intestina," says: "Habitat in Oceano europseo, pisces 

 intrans, devorans, aquam in gluten vertens." Pennant, in 1766, refers to the fish on 

 the lines being reduced to skin and bone by Myxine. 



At Cullercoats Myxine is found on a muddy bottom, not as a rule inside the 

 23-fathom line, and common at 25 fathoms. It also occurs on a clayey bottom from 

 25 to 50 fathoms, but is not so numerous. On their own ground they must be as 

 plentiful as earthworms. They will migrate on to an artificial muddy bottom, such 

 as when a quantity of dredged mud has been dropped by hoppers on to an originally 

 hard bottom, and in one such case they were known to have moved inshore from 6 

 to 3 miles. 



All fishermen agree that the Hag enters the line fish by the gills and not by the 

 mouth, and completely cleans it out, so that when the hooked fish is hauled up it is 

 simply a bag of skin and bone. This was described by Fleming in 1823, and Meynell 

 mentions that 123 Myxine were taken out of one codfish at Redcar in 1843. At one 

 time Myxine were so common as to constitute a serious menace to the line fishery, but 

 the fishermen allege that since trawling has developed, the Hags have largely dis- 

 appeared, due doubtless, if correct, to the trawlers reducing the food of the Hags. It 

 is further asserted by the fishermen that Myxine will not touch a fish that has been 

 long dead, but that they only attack dying or newly dead line fish. They are readily 

 captured on hooks baited with the foot of the limpet and salt herring. 



The Hag swims freely and easily, like an eel, by lateral undulations. It can swim 

 backwards, and usually escapes from a bucket tail first. Its power of secreting slime 

 has been greatly exaggerated, unless the extensive experience which I have now had 

 is greatly at fault. Goode and Bean state : "A single Hag will fill a two-gallon 

 bucket with slime mingled with water in a few seconds, and after a slight interval can 

 repeat the operation with ease." I have seen nothing in any sense approaching this 

 performance. 



Owing to the fact that hooked Myxine are usually damaged by the hook — in some 

 cases the hook may be found as far back as the anus — I devised the following method 

 of capturing large numbers of Hags in 1903. A line about a quarter of a mile long 

 with, say, 35 black jack [Gadus virens) tied to it at intervals was anchored at each end 

 to the sea bottom in 25 fathoms of water. From the anchor at each end a line with 

 a fioat went to the surface, so that the position of the bottom line could be located. 

 The bait must not be left down too long — in three hours, for example, all the black jack 

 would be destroyed and the Hags gone. In this and other experiments I was able 

 to establish : — 



