Hagfish, of the class Myxini and order Myxiniformes, are eel-shaped jawless fish. Hagfish are the only known living animals that have a skull but no vertebral column, although they do have rudimentary vertebrae. Hagfish are marine predators and scavengers who can defend themselves against other larger predators by releasing copious amounts of slime from mucous glands in their skin.
Notacanthidae, the deep-sea spiny eels, are a family of fishes found worldwide below 125 m (410 ft), and as deep as 3,500 m (11,500 ft). The earliest known spiny eel is Pronotacanthus sahelalmae, from the Santonian of what is now Lebanon.
Eptatretus springeri, the Gulf hagfish, is a bathydemersal vertebrate which lives primarily in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. 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. The Gulf hagfish feeds on the primary producers of these environments, as well as other predators.
The broadgilled hagfish or New Zealand hagfish, also known by its Māori language name tuere, is a hagfish found around New Zealand and the Chatham Islands as well as around the south and east coasts of Australia, at depths between 1 and 900 metres.
Anarhichadidae, the wolffishes, sea wolves or wolf eels, is a family of marine ray finned fishes belonging to the order Scorpaeniformes. These are predatory, eel shaped fishes which are native to the cold waters of the Arctic, North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans.
Eptatretus is a large genus of hagfish.
The Mediterranean moray, also known as Roman eel, is a species of fish in the moray eel family. It has a long eel-like body and is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Its bite can be dangerous to humans.
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes, which consists of eight suborders, 20 families, 164 genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage and are usually predators.
The inshore hagfish is a hagfish found in the Northwest Pacific, from the Sea of Japan and across eastern Japan to Taiwan. It has six pairs of gill pouches and gill apertures. These hagfish are found in the sublittoral zone. They live usually buried in the bottom mud and migrate into deeper water to spawn. The inshore hagfish is the only member of the Myxinidae family having a seasonal reproductive cycle.
Myxine is a genus of hagfish, from the Greek μυξῖνος. It is the type genus of the class Myxini.
Eptatretus bischoffii is a common hagfish of the genus Eptatretus. Its maximum length is 55 centimetres (22 in). It lives in a demersal, non-migratory, marine habitat with its depth range between 8–50 m. It can survive in only temperate zones. These organisms are found in the South Pacific, mainly, Chile. It is harmless to humans.
Myxine glutinosa, known as the Atlantic hagfish in North America, and often simply as the hagfish in Europe, is a species of jawless fish of the genus Myxine.
Eptatretus deani, the black hagfish, is a species of hagfish.
Indostomus is a genus of small fishes native to slow moving or stagnant freshwater habitats in Indochina. It is the sole genus of the monogeneric family Indostomidae, Long considered to be sticklebacks, within the order Gasterosteiformes, modern analyses place the Indostomids within the order Synbranchiformes, related to the spiny eels and swamp eels.
Nemamyxine is a genus of hagfish.
Notomyxine tridentiger is a species of hagfish that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean off the southern coasts of South America. It is the only member of the genus Notomyxine. It can be found in the temperate waters of the Southeast Pacific and Southwest Atlantic, as well as the southern coasts of South America. It can reach a maximum length of 57 cm.
Rubicundus is a genus of hagfishes, the only member of the subfamily Rubicundinae. All species in it were formerly classified in Eptatretus. R. eos, R. lakeside, and R. rubicundus are known from single specimens caught in the Tasman Sea, Galápagos, and Taiwan, respectively. They are named after the distinctive red coloration that all species share.
Eptatretus hexatrema, the sixgill hagfish, or snotslang is a species of marine fish in the hagfish family of order Myxiniformes. It is native to the South Atlantic Ocean and southwestern Indian Ocean.
Eptatretus polytrema, the fourteen-gill hagfish or Chilean hagfish, is a demersal and non-migratory hagfish of the genus Eptatretus. It is found in muddy and rocky bottoms of the southeastern area of the Pacific Ocean near the coast of Chile between Coquimbo and Puerto Montt, at depths between 10 and 350 m. This hagfish can reach a length of 93 cm. It is only known from a few specimens and has not been recorded since 1988.
