A new species of hagfish (Myxinidae: Eptatretus) from Papua New Guinea.
A new species of seven-gilled hagfish Eptatretus astrolabium (Myxinidae) is described from a 400 mm total length female trapped 1 km east from Planet Rock, Astrolabe Bay, Papua New Guinea, at c. 500 m depth. This is the first hagfish species reported from the waters around New Guinea. It can be distinguished from other hagfishes by a combination of characters including seven pairs of gill apertures, three-cusp multicusps on the anterior and posterior rows of cusps, 10 posterior unicusps, 52 total cusps, 18-19 prebranchial pores, five branchial pores, 48-49 trunk pores, 83-84 total pores and no nasal-sinus papillae.
Fernholm
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Swedish Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden. bo.fernholm@nrm.se
Mincarone
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D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006196:Hagfishes / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification*; D010219:Papua New Guinea; D013045:Species Specificity