Inshore_hagfish

Inshore hagfish

Inshore hagfish

Species of jawless fish

The inshore hagfish (Eptatretus burgeri) 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.[3] 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.

Quick Facts Conservation status, Scientific classification ...

Generally very little is known about hagfish reproduction and embryos are difficult to obtain for study, although laboratory breeding of Eptatretus burgeri has succeeded.[4]

The hide of this hagfish is processed into "eel skin" in Korea and exported worldwide.

As food

In most countries hagfish are usually not eaten, but this particular species is valued as food in the Korean Peninsula and among the Koreans in Japan. It is also enjoyed by Japanese as a local delicacy in some regions, particularly Nagasaki and Niigata Prefectures. It is known as bùshì nián mángmán (布氏黏盲鰻)[5] and púshì nián mángmán (蒲氏黏盲鰻)[6] among other names in Mandarin Chinese, kkomjangeo (꼼장어) or meokjangeo (먹장어) in Korean,[7] and nuta-unagi (ヌタウナギ) in Japanese.[7]

As with all hagfish, the inshore hagfish produces slime when agitated. This is obtained by placing a live inshore hagfish into a container and knocking the container with a stick.

Kkomjangeo bokkeum (꼼장어 볶음), Korean stir-fried fish dish made with inshore hagfish.
Eating inshore hagfish at a market in Busan, South Korea.

References

  1. [1]
    Froese, R.; Pauly, D. (2017). "Myxinidae". FishBase version (02/2017). Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  2. [2]
    Van Der Laan, Richard; Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ronald (11 November 2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (1): 1–230. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. PMID 25543675.
  3. [3]
    Fishbase - Eptatretus burgeri
  4. [4]
    Holland, ND (2007). "Hagfish embryos again: The end of a long drought". BioEssays. 29 (9): 833–6. doi:10.1002/bies.20620. PMID 17691082.
  5. [5]
    "Eptatretus burgeri." Checklist of Taiwanese Species at the Catalogue of Life in Taiwan. Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. Retrieved on 25 July 2021. (in Chinese)
  6. [6]
    中国科学院动物研究所. "蒲氏盲鳗". 中国动物物种编目数据库. 中国科学院微生物研究所. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  7. [7]
    Species: Eptatretus burgeri (Girard, 1855)
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