Myxine hubbsi

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	MYXINI	MYXINIFORMES	MYXINIDAE

Scientific Name:	Myxine hubbsi
Species Authority:	Wisner & McMillan, 1995

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Least Concern ver 3.1
Year Published:	2011
Assessor/s:	Mincarone, M.M.
Reviewer/s:	Polidoro, B., Knapp, L. & Carpenter, K.E.
Contributor/s:
Justification: This species is widespread in the Eastern Pacific, and is considered common. Although there may be some deep-sea trawl fisheries operating within at least part of the depth and distributional range of this species, there is no current indication of widespread population decline. It is listed as Least Concern.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is located in the eastern Pacific, from 33°N to 22°S. It can be found off North America, from San Diego (USA) to Baja California Sur (Mexico); off Central America, south of Nicoya Peninsula (Costa Rica); and off South America, from Talara (Peru) to about Tocopilla (Chile).
Countries:	Native: Chile; Costa Rica; Mexico; Panama; Peru; United States
FAO Marine Fishing Areas:	Native: Pacific – eastern central; Pacific – southeast
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	This species is a deep-water species that is abundant across a wide range. Actual population levels are known from 150 museum specimens.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This is a deep-sea species living on the lower slopes and abyssal plains at depths from 1,100-2,440 m (Wisner and McMillan 1995). The sex ratio of the specimens examined by Wisner and McMillan (1995) was extremely unbalanced. Of 150 specimens sexed 114 (76%) were females, 35 (23%) hermaphroditic and six (0.4%) males. From 7-15 large eggs, ranging between 17 x 6 mm and 24 x 8 mm, occur in eight females (415-450 mm); all other females have small eggs. The largest number of eggs (15) was in a female of 440 mm. The copulatory organ is absent in this species. 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 (Patzner 1998).
Systems:	Marine

Habitat and Ecology:

This is a deep-sea species living on the lower slopes and abyssal plains at depths from 1,100-2,440 m (Wisner and McMillan 1995). The sex ratio of the specimens examined by Wisner and McMillan (1995) was extremely unbalanced. Of 150 specimens sexed 114 (76%) were females, 35 (23%) hermaphroditic and six (0.4%) males. From 7-15 large eggs, ranging between 17 x 6 mm and 24 x 8 mm, occur in eight females (415-450 mm); all other females have small eggs. The largest number of eggs (15) was in a female of 440 mm.

The copulatory organ is absent in this species. 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 (Patzner 1998).

Systems:

Marine

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	There are no known direct threats to this species but it is potentially vulnerable to deep sea trawling activity in same parts of its depth and distributional range.

Major Threat(s):

There are no known direct threats to this species but it is potentially vulnerable to deep sea trawling activity in same parts of its depth and distributional range.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	There are no conservation measures in place, but more research is needed on this species' biology, population size, distribution and impact of deep-sea trawling activities on the species (bycatch) and its habitats.

Conservation Actions:

There are no conservation measures in place, but more research is needed on this species' biology, population size, distribution and impact of deep-sea trawling activities on the species (bycatch) and its habitats.

Citation:	Mincarone, M.M. 2011. Myxine hubbsi. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 24 May 2013.
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