Martini et a!.: A population profile for Myxine glutinosa 
517 
on the numbers of slime pores (prebranchial, trunk, 
tail, and total) and total cusp counts for Myxine in 
the eastern and western North Atlantic. Through 
correspondence with Robert L. Wisner, 1 we obtained 
data and collection information for 73 western North 
Atlantic (WNA) and 179 eastern North Atlantic 
(ENA) specimens. These data sets permitted exten- 
sive comparisons with our morphological data for 
1478 specimens from the inner Gulf of Maine (WNA). 
Methods of measuring and counting followed those 
of Fernholm and Hubbs (1981) and McMillan and 
Wisner (1984). The body axis was divided into 
prebranchial, trunk, and tail regions. The pre- 
branchial measurement extends from the tip of the 
snout to the anterior margin of the pharyngocu- 
taneous duct (pcd), the trunk continues to the ante- 
rior margin of the cloaca, and the tail region extends 
from that point to the tip of the tail. The sum of these 
measurements is equal to the total length (TL). The 
proportional measurements were recorded in milli- 
meters and converted to percentages of total length. 
Additional data included body depth, body width, 
cloacal depth, and tail depth (in mm and %TL); total 
slime pore count (TP) with prebranchial, trunk, and 
tail counts (as values and %TP), and total cusp counts. 
Morphological data were collected from 306 hag- 
fish from the inner Gulf of Maine during five years 
of trap surveys at depths of 120-150 m by staff and 
students of the Shoals Marine Laboratory. Samples 
were collected from late June to early September. The 
1 Wisner, R. L. 1996. Marine Biology Research Division, Univ. 
California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0202. Unpubl. data. 
traps used in this study were comparable to those 
set by the commercial hagfishing fleet. The trap used 
on most trips consisted of a weighted garbage can 
with 5-7.5 cm holes in the side and an inner, baited 
trap of wire screening. After collection, the animals 
were transferred to tanks of chilled seawater (2-6°C) 
at 32-35 ppt salinity for transport to the marine labo- 
ratory. All measurements were taken on fresh speci- 
mens. Total length data from these samples were 
combined with length data provided by the New 
England Fisheries Development Association for 1172 
hagfish collected by fishermen within 80 km of the 
shoreline in the southern Gulf of Maine over the pe- 
riod of June-July 1995. All specimens were collected 
at depths of 120-180 m. 
Samples from elsewhere in the North Atlantic were 
collected by either trawling or trapping at depths of 
30-600 m between 1965 and 1987 (Wisner 1 ). Collec- 
tions in the eastern North Atlantic were from mid- 
summer (August); those from the western North At- 
lantic were from all seasons. The morphological data 
from these collections were recorded from preserved 
specimens by Robert L. Wisner and Charmion 
McMillan. An analysis of variance was performed on 
the data with the fixed effect of collection site by us- 
ing Statview 4.5 (Abacus Concepts Inc., 1995). This 
analysis consisted of post-hoc multiple comparison 
tests (Scheffe F-test) at the 5% level of significance. 
Results 
When plotted out on regional charts (Fig. 1 ), the data 
Figure 1 
Sampled populations of M. glutinosa in the eastern and western North Atlantic. The shaded areas indicate the approximate 
range of collection sites for each data set. (Left) Collection sites within the Gulf of Maine. The 100-m, 200-m, and 300-m depth 
contour lines are indicated. OGM = outer Gulf of Maine; IGM = inner Gulf of Maine; BB = Brown’s Bank; GB = George’s Bank 
(Right) Other collection sites in the North Atlantic. ENA = eastern North Atlantic; NWA = Northwest Atlantic; G = Gulf of 
Maine (see [left]); and MAC = mid-Atlantic coast. 
