Chinese Hagfish

📖 Overview

Chinese Hagfish (Eptatretus chinensis), first described by Kuo & Mok, 1994 is a medium-sized fish in the family Myxinidae (order Myxiniformes). Adults typically reach 37.50 cm in maximum length. It inhabits marine coastal and open-ocean environments. It occurs in Deep-water waters. Diet is predominantly piscivorous, targeting other fish and larger prey. On the IUCN Red List, it is classified as Data Deficient.

🔬 Taxonomy

🐟 Physical Description

The species has 6 pairs of gill pouches and apertures. Gill apertures in a straight line, not crowded. Eyespots prominent. Fused cusps 3/3, 8-10 unicusps each row, total cusps 46-52. Slime pores: prebranchial 15-19 + branchial 4-5 + trunk 42-45 + tail 11-14. It is distinguished from the other 3 Asian species on Eptatretus by having 6 rather than 7 or 8 pairs of gill pouches .: eel-like.

🌀 Behaviour

Behavioural data for Chinese Hagfish is currently being reviewed.

🦐 Diet

🥚 Reproduction

Copulatory organ absent. The gonads of hagfishes are situated in the peritoneal cavity. The ovary is found in the anterior portion of the gonad, and the testis is found in the posterior part. The animal becomes female if the cranial part of the gonad develops or male if the caudal part undergoes differentiation. If none develops, then the animal becomes sterile. If both anterior and posterior parts develop, then the animal becomes a functional hermaphrodite. However, hermaphroditism being characterised as functional needs to be validated by more reproduction studies .

🌍 Habitat & Distribution

Marine; bathydemersal; non-migratory; depth range ? - 600 m . Deep-water South China Sea.

🌿 Ecology

📐 Morphometrics

🌡️ Water Parameters & Tolerance

🛡️ Conservation Assessment

📊 Population Risk & Fisheries

🌐 Names & Taxonomy

Scientific Synonyms

🐠 Related Species

🔍 Similar Species

🗺️ Global Occurrence Map

Occurrence records from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) - 1 records indexed .

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