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Myxini (hagfishes) > Myxiniformes (Hagfishes) > Myxinidae (Hagfishes) > Myxininae
Etymology: Myxine: Ancient Greek word for a slimy fish: myxa, slime; -inus, one who, referring to copious amounts of slime produced by M. glutinosa (See ETYFish); capensis: -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, type locality (See ETYFish).
More on author: Regan.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; bathydemersal; non-migratory; depth range 175 - 460 m (Ref. 27121). Deep-water

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Southeast Atlantic: Namibia (Ref. 27121) and South Africa.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 40.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 6573)

Burrows in muddy bottoms (Ref. 27121). Feeds mostly by scavenging on dead or disabled fish (Ref. 27121).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Copulatory organ absent. The gonads of hagfishes are situated in the peritoneal cavity. The ovary is found in the anterior portion of the gonad, and the testis is found in the posterior part. The animal becomes female if the cranial part of the gonad develops or male if the caudal part undergoes differentiation. If none develops, then the animal becomes sterile. If both anterior and posterior parts develop, then the animal becomes a functional hermaphrodite. However, hermaphroditism being characterised as functional needs to be validated by more reproduction studies (Ref. 51361 ).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Fernholm, B., 1998. Hagfish systematics. p. 33-44. In J.M. Jørgensen, J.P. Lomholt, R.E. Weber and H. Malte (eds.) The biology of hagfishes. Chapman & Hall, London. 578 p. (Ref. 31276)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 11 November 2009

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators

Ecology
Ecology

Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
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Abundance

Life cycle
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Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
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Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics

Distribution
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Anatomy
Gill area
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Physiology
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Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
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Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)

Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
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Stamps, coins, misc.

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Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 9 - 14.2, mean 10.2 °C (based on 21 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00115 (0.00044 - 0.00298), b=3.03 (2.80 - 3.26), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.4 ±0.57 se; based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Fec assumed to be <100).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low to moderate vulnerability (30 of 100).

Myxine capensis Regan, 1913