Martini et al.: Population profile of Gulf of Maine Myxine glutinosa 
315 
3 Males represent a very small percentage of the 
population (less than 6%). 
4 Roughly 25% of the adult population does not have 
macroscopically identifiable gonadal tissue; the 
presence of large numbers of sterile individuals 
has also been reported for populations in the east- 
ern North Atlantic (Schreiner, 1955; Jespersen, 
1975). 
5 The overlap in sizes between males and females 
suggests neither protandry nor protogyny. 
Regression analyses were performed on morpho- 
logical data sets to detect significant trends. No re- 
lationships were found between total slime pores, 
snout-pcd slime pores, or tail slime pores versus to- 
tal length. This finding indicates that the number of 
slime pores is fixed for each individual and that ad- 
ditional slime pores are not added as growth occurs. 
However, with growth, the prebranchial region forms 
a significantly smaller percentage of the total length. 
The feeding apparatus, consisting of the tooth cusp 
plates and the dental muscle complex (Dawson, 
1960), is therefore relatively large in smaller indi- 
viduals. No data are available concerning the life 
span or growth rates for this species. 
To determine whether or not our data were repre- 
sentative of the Gulf of Maine as a whole, we began 
by comparing the morphological data from our study 
site with data from eight specimens collected at 
Stellwagen Bank in Massachusetts Bay (42°20'N, 
70°17'W), roughly 36 km from our primary study site. 
The size range (460-600 mm TL; average: 523 mm 
Cloacal depth (mm) 
Figure 2 
Total length (TLKmm) in the sample population ofAtlantic hagfish. 
(A) A frequency histogram for total length (rc=306). This graph in- 
cludes direct measurements (n=202) and lengths calculated from 
the equation in part (B) (n=104). For these data: Mean = 511 mm, 
SD = 93 mm, range = 195-724 mm. (B) The relationship between 
cloacal depth and total length (n= 83). /- 2 =0.835, P=0.0001. 
