title: Eptatretus strickrotti n. sp. (Myxinidae): first hagfish captured from a hydrothermal vent.
abstract: A single hagfish (Myxinidae, Eptatretus) specimen was recently captured at a hydrothermal vent site on the East Pacific Rise (38 degrees S). This is the first capture of a member of the jawless fishes (agnathans) from a hydrothermal vent site. The specimen differs from all congeners by the very slender body (depth 2.9% of total length), the paired and median ventral nasal sinus papillae, and the presence of 10 afferent branchial arteries on the medial ventral aorta. It is further unique because of a combination of the following features: slime pore counts; paired dorsal nasal sinus papillae; 12 gill pouches and gill apertures; posterior left side of body widely separated from pharyngocutaneous duct; 3/2 multicusp configuration; ventral aorta bifurcated anteriorly between 2nd and 3rd gill pouches (counted from the snout toward the heart); and pink coloration. The specimen is here described as a new species named Eptatretus strickrotti. Molecular 16S rRNA data places this new species as the basal-most species of Eptatretus, providing important new insight to the evolution of hagfishes as a whole.
authors.affiliation: Zoological Museum, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen East, Denmark. pdrmoller@snm.ku.dk
authors.forename: Peter R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Møller
authors.forename: W Joe
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D005843:Geography; D006196:Hagfishes / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000737:chemistry; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S