Eptatretus stoutii  (Lockington, 1878)

Pacific hagfish
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Eptatretus stoutii
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Myxini (hagfishes) > Myxiniformes (Hagfishes) > Myxinidae (Hagfishes) > Eptatretinae
Etymology: Eptatretus: Greek, epta = seven + Greek, tretos, -e, -on = with holes (Ref. 45335);  stoutii: Named after Dr. Stout, corresponding secretary of the CAS (Ref. 6885).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; demersal; non-migratory; depth range 16 - 633 m (Ref. 31276).   Temperate

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 42.0  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 46.8 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2850)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 0. No true fins - one dorsal finfold, far back, median, very low, continuous with caudal; caudal broad, rounded; ventral finfold very low, origin somewhat posterior to last gill pore, extending to anus (Ref. 6885). Dark brown, tan, gray, or brownish red, often tinted with blue or purple, never black, lighter ventrally, rarely with large patches of white; preserved specimens light brown (Ref. 6885).

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Pacific: southeastern Alaska to Bahia San Pablo, central Baja California, Mexico.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits fine silt and clay bottoms (Ref. 6885). Enters large fishes by way of the mouth and anus and feed on its viscera and muscles (Ref. 6885). May greatly diminish catches taken with fixed gears (Ref. 6885). Produces mucilaginous slime when harassed (Ref. 6885). Probably exhibits hermaphroditism (Ref. 56947). Due to its primitive metabolism it is collected for research purposes (Ref. 6885).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Fernholm, B., 1998. Hagfish systematics. p. 33-44. In J.M. Jørgensen, J.P. Lomholt, R.E. Weber and H. Malte (eds.) The biology of hagfishes. Chapman & Hall, London. 578 p.

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)

  Data deficient (DD) 

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | Public aquariums | PubMed | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on empirical models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00275 (-0.11432 - 0.11982), b=2.89 (2.81 - 2.97), based on LWR estimates for species & family-BS (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  4.2   ±0.70 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Fec = 28).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (37 of 100) .
Price category (Ref. 80766):   .