Common Name
Atlantic Worm Hagfish
Year Described
McMillan & Wisner, 1982
Identification
Slime Pores
Prebranchial: 36-44
Branchial: 0
Trunk: 73-92
Tail: 8-16
Total: 124-148
Anterior unicusps: 5-6
Posterior unicusps: 6-8
Total cusps: 32-38
Tooth formula: 3/2
Body anguilliform, worm-like, and cylindrical. There are eight gill pouches. No branchial pores (present in Eptratretus). Ventral and caudal finfolds well developed.
Color
Body brown with a paler ventrum. Head, ventral finfold, and margins of pores pale.
Size
Maximum size to 49.3cm TL.
Habitat
Taken on soft bottoms from 80-800m. Caught in shallower water during colder months.
Range
S. Brazil to the La Plata mouth off Argentina.
References
Mincarone, M. M. 2001. Further description of the hagfish Nemamyxine kreffti McMillan & Wisner, 1982 (Agnatha, Myxinidae). Mare Magnum v. 1 (no. 1): 19-22.
Mincarone, M. M. 2007. Revisao Taxonomica da Familia Myxinidae Rafinesque, 1814 (Myxiniformes). Tese de Doutorado, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
Wisner, R. L. & McMillan, C. B. 1995. Review of new world hagfishes of the genus Myxine (Agnatha, Myxinidae) with descriptions of nine new species. Fishery Bulletin 93: 530-550.
Other Notes
The only western Atlantic hagfish with a ventral finfold originating anterior or a the level of the gill apertures.