Eptatretus aceroi

Common Name

Seep Hagfish

Year Described

Fernandez & Fernholm, 2014

Identification

Slime Pores
Prebranchial: 44
Branchial: 6
Trunk: 107
Tail: 17
Total: 174

Anterior unicusps: 12-13
Posterior unicusps: 12
Total cusps: 58
Tooth formula: 3/2

Body anguilliform, very slender, and cylindrical. There are five gill openings. Gill openings linear. Branchial ducts tapering to a smaller size posteriorly. Body pores very numerous (unique in W. Atlantic myxinids). Anal finfold moderately developed.

Color

Described as light brown in alcohol with a whitish head. Darker pigment around body pores and along the bases of each finfold. Margins of gill openings pale.

Size

The holotype measures 58.4cm TL.

Habitat

Collected around 705m in the vicinity of hydrothermal methane seeps.

Range

Known from off Colombia.

References

Polanco Fernandez, A. & B. Fernholm. 2014. A new species of hagfish (Myxinidae: Eptatretus) from the Colombian Caribbean. Copeia 2014 (3): 530-533.

Other Notes

Only four other species of W. Atlantic Eptatretus and Rubicundus have five gill openings: Eptatretus wayuu, R. lopheliae, and two undescribed species. The only other hagfish to be collected around hydrothermal vents is the Pacific species, E. strickrotti (Polanco Fernandez & Fernholm, 2014).