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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); formosana: Formosan, referring to Formosa, historical name of Taiwan, type locality (See ETYFish).

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

Marine; bathydemersal; non-migratory; depth range 588 - 1500 m (Ref. 40969). Deep-water

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

Western Pacific: Taiwan (Ref. 40969) and possibly in the Philippines (Ref. 95645).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 76.8 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40969)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Head white; body and tail grayish-black to dark purple. A 3-cusp multicusp on the anterior set of cusps and 2-cusp multicusp on the posterior set. Gill pouches, generally 5 pairs (rarely 4). Slime pores 0 - 4 (mostly 2) above the area between the anterior and posterior ends of the cloaca. Anterior unicusps 10 (8-12) on each side. Anterior part of ventral finfold (VFF) higher than posterior part (mostly vestigial). Caudal finfold (CFF) low to vestigial (Ref. 40969).

Caught using shrimp traps (Ref. 40969).

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

Mok, H.-K. and C.-H. Kuo, 2001. Myxine formosana, a new species of hagfish (Myxiniformes: Myxinidae) from southwestern waters of Taiwan. Ichthyol. Res. 48(3):295-297. (Ref. 40969)

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

Data deficient (DD) ; Date assessed: 13 November 2009

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 3.8 - 6.5, mean 5.5 °C (based on 45 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 ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives

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

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Moderate to high vulnerability (51 of 100).

Myxine formosana Mok & Kuo, 2001