Eptatretus springeri

Eptatretus springeri, the Gulf hagfish,[3] is a bathydemersal vertebrate which lives primarily in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico.[4] It has been observed feeding at and around brine pools: areas of high salinity which resemble lakes on the ocean floor that do not mix with the surrounding water due to difference in density. The high salt content, approximately 200 ppt compared to 35 ppt for standard seawater, creates a buoyant surface which renders oceanic submersibles unable to descend into the pool. It is believed that the inside of the pools only supports microbial life, while the majority of macroscopic life, such as methane-utilizing mussels, exists on the edges.[5] The Gulf hagfish feeds on the primary producers of these environments, as well as other predators.[5]

Eptatretus springeri
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Infraphylum: Agnatha
Class: Myxini
Order: Myxiniformes
Family: Myxinidae
Genus: Eptatretus
Species:
E. springeri
Binomial name
Eptatretus springeri
(Bigelow & Schroeder, 1952)
Synonyms[1][2]
  • Paramyxine springeri Bigelow & Schroeder 1952

Like other species of hagfish, the Gulf hagfish produces slime from glands in its skin. It also exhibits complex knotting behavior, in which the body of the hagfish is twisted into knots, believed to be related to the removal or management of slime. Hagfish of the genus Eptatretus (including E.springeri and the more extensively studied E. stoutii), are able to form more complex knots than those of genus Myxine due to the anisotropic nature of their skin.[6]

See also

References
Specific
  1. Froese, R.; Pauly, D. (2017). "Myxinidae". FishBase version (02/2017). Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  2. Van Der Laan, Richard; Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ronald (11 November 2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (1): 1–230. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. PMID 25543675.
  3. McEachran, J.; Fechhelm, J.D. (1998). Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico, Vol. 1: Myxiniformes to Gasterosteiformes. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-292-75206-1. OCLC 38468784. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  4. "Eptatretus springeri, Gulf hagfish". www.fishbase.se. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
  5. S. E. MacAvoy, E. Morgan, R. S. Carney, and S. A. Macko, "Chemoautotrophic Production Incorporated by Heterotrophs in Gulf of Mexico Hydrocarbon Seeps: An Examination of Mobile Benthic Predators and Seep Residents," Journal of Shellfish Research 27(1), 153-161, (1 March 2008). doi:10.2983/0730-8000(2008)27[153:CPIBHI]2.0.CO;2
  6. Kennedy, E. B. Lane; Patel, Raj P.; Perez, Crystina P.; Clubb, Benjamin L.; Uyeno, Theodore A.; Clark, Andrew J. (2021-04-01). "Comparative biomechanics of hagfish skins: diversity in material, morphology, and movement". Zoology. 145: 125888. doi:10.1016/j.zool.2020.125888. ISSN 0944-2006. PMID 33508724.


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