The white-headed hagfish (''Myxine ios'') is a species of jawless fish of the family Myxinidae (hagfish). Its scientific name alludes to the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences (IOS), Wormley, Surrey, which supplied the holotype.

Distribution

''Myxine ios'' is a marine

bathydemersal Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes (the demersal zone).Walrond Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor"Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 They occ ...

fish, living at depths of . It is non-migratory, living in the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

waters off Iceland, Ireland and the western Sahara.

Description

The white-headed hagfish may grow up to long. It is a seven- gilled hagfish; it can be distinguished from related species by its large number of tooth cusps: between 44 and 51. The Irish ''M. ios'' population is distinguished from the southern variety by its white head and whitish middorsal or midventral line.

Behaviour

''M. ios'' is a

scavenger Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding b ...

of dead or disabled fish, which it bores into. Its eggs are large, .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4732911 Myxinidae Fish of the North Atlantic Fish described in 1981 Taxa named by Bo Fernholm