White-headed hagfish explained

The white-headed hagfish (Myxine ios) is a species of jawless fish of the family Myxinidae (hagfish).^{[1] [2] [3]}

Its scientific name alludes to the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences (IOS), Wormley, Surrey, which supplied the holotype.^[4]

Distribution

Myxine ios is a marine bathydemersal fish,^[5] living at depths of . It is non-migratory, living in the North Atlantic waters off Iceland, Ireland and the western Sahara.^{[6] [7]}

Description

The white-headed hagfish may grow up to 57cm (22inches) long.^[4] It is a seven-gilled hagfish; it can be distinguished from related species by its large number of tooth cusps: between 44 and 51.^[8] The Irish M. ios population is distinguished from the southern variety by its white head and whitish middorsal or midventral line.^[9]

Behaviour

M. ios is a scavenger of dead or disabled fish, which it bores into. Its eggs are large, 2-.^[10]

Notes and References

1. Web site: WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Myxine ios Fernholm, 1981. www.marinespecies.org.
2. Book: Sharks: An Eponym Dictionary. Michael. Watkins. Bo. Beolens. January 30, 2015. Pelagic Publishing Ltd. 9781784270377 . Google Books.
3. Book: Check-list of the Fishes of the Eastern Tropical Atlantic: Clofeta. June 19, 1990. Junta Nacional de Investigação Cientifica e Tecnológica. 9789230026202 . Google Books.
4. Web site: Myxine ios, White-headed hagfish. www.fishbase.se.
5. Book: Deep-Sea Ecosystems Off Mauritania: Research of Marine Biodiversity and Habitats in the Northwest African Margin. Ana. Ramos. Fran. Ramil. José Luis. Sanz. September 25, 2017. Springer. 9789402410235 . Google Books.
6. Book: Fish atlas of the Celtic Sea, North Sea, and Baltic Sea: Based on international research-vessel surveys. Henk J. L.. Heessen. Niels. Daan. Jim R.. Ellis. September 1, 2015. Wageningen Academic Publishers. 9789086868780 . Google Books.
7. Book: Priede, I. G.. Deep-Sea Fishes: Biology, Diversity, Ecology and Fisheries. August 10, 2017. Cambridge University Press. 9781107083820 . Google Books.
8. Book: The Teeth of Non-Mammalian Vertebrates. Barry K. B.. Berkovitz. R. Peter. Shellis. October 14, 2016. Academic Press. 9780128028841 . Google Books.
9. A new species of hagfish of the genus Myxine, with notes on other eastern Atlantic myxinids. B.. Fernholm. July 19, 1981. Journal of Fish Biology. 19. 1. 73–82. 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1981.tb05812.x.
10. Web site: Myxine ios | NBN Atlas. species.nbnatlas.org.