GLUTINOUS HAG. 
1209 
phanous. The coloration is of a, reddish gray, more 
or less strongly suffused on the back and the upper 
part of the sides with blackish gray, owing to the pre- 
sence of subcutaneous pigment, a vague bluish violet 
tint being thus produced in those regions. Sometimes 
the pigment is unevenly distributed, giving the body 
a piebald appearance. On the belly the colour is of 
a somewhat lighter gray. 
The head is not delimited from the body, being of 
about the same thickness and terete form, but it tapers 
in a forward direction towards the tip of the snout. 
In its appearance and structure the species be- 
longing to the Scandinavian fauna exhibits all the pe- 
culiarities enumerated above as characteristic of the 
genus Myxine. and no further description is therefore 
necessary. 
The Glutinous Hag occurs throughout the west coast 
of Sweden, from the Sound upwards, and along the whole 
Norwegian coast up to Finnmark. In the Sound, how- 
ever, it appears to be very rare. From Mount Kullen 
upwards, along the west coast of Sweden, and all the 
coasts of Norway, it is common in such localities as 
are congenial to its manner of life, viz. where the bot- 
tom consists of soft clay and mud, the water is of a 
suitable depth, about 20“ to 50 fathoms, and preferably 
where there is some ground current. The Glutinous 
Hag is quite at home, however, in deeper water (100 
— 200 fathoms), as has been observed off the northern 
most coasts of Norway. It seems besides to occur in 
the Arctic seas, off Greenland (Fabricius) and the east 
coast of North America, though it is apparently not 
common there. On the coasts of Scotland and Northern 
England it is also met with, but is less numerous, to 
judge by the statements on record, than in Scandi- 
navian waters. 
As regards its manner of life, it seems as a rule 
to lie embedded in the clayey bottom. This is its 
habit too, when kept in aquaria with a bottom of clay 
or mud, and supplied with running water, an experi- 
ment which I have repeatedly made. It soon burrows 
into the clay and remains lying there, with only the 
tip of the snout exposed to view. But it does not live 
long in captivity. As a rule the. prisoners die in the 
and sunk in salt water at a depth of some fathoms. 
At first they show great activity in their movements, 
wriggling like Eels, generally forwards, but sometimes 
backwards, and swaying the head now to one side, now 
to the other. In these actions they display fairly great 
strength, and they secrete meanwhile large quantities 
of slime, in which they sometimes entangle themselves. 
They often project the tongue and draw it in again, 
thus getting portions of the slimy secretion into their 
mouth, and the dead Hags are consequently found in 
many cases to have clots of slime adhering far back 
in the mouth cavity. 
Of their habits little or nothing more is known. 
That they are true parasites, as was formerly asserted 
and is still stated in some foreign manuals, is in the 
highest degree improbable. At least there is no direct 
evidence of this. They apparently live on dead ani- 
mals, principally fish. This appears distinctly from 
their not seldom attacking netted fish, or creeping into 
pots containing dead fish or fish oft’al and sunk in 
places frequented by this species. The most enticing 
bait seems to be Haddock or Whiting, and by this 
method great numbers of Glutinous Hags may be taken. 
In one single pot a hundred or two may sometimes be 
caught. On examination the intestinal canal of the 
captured Hags is found to be full of recently de- 
voured morsels of fish. They apparently do not with- 
draw to any distance from the sea-bottom, and accord- 
ing to the statements of experienced fishermen they 
fasten upon netted or hooked fish only when this is 
on or close to the ground. 
That the Glutinous Hag also attacks the corpses of 
drowned human beings, is a fact known on the west 
coast of Sweden. 
The Glutinous Hag would thus appear strictly to 
feed on dead creatures. It may be regarded as a sca- 
venger of the depths. But, guided bj T its powerfully 
developed organ of smell, it also assails hooked fish 
hanging on the line, and must thus be stigmatized as 
in some degree injurious to the fishery. 
Itself it possesses no economical value. Its flesh 
is not good to eat and is nowhere used for food. Pos- 
sibly it might be smoked for consumption, like the 
Lampern. ' (G. Retzius.) 
course of a few hours, even if they be placed in a corf 
a The least depth at which I succeeded in obtaining it in Gullinar Fjord was 16 — 17 fathoms, but, according to statements given by 
fishermen, the animal lives during the winter at a still less depth (10 — 11 fathoms). 
