The Northern Brown Hagfish, Eptatretus walkeri (McMillan and Wisner, 2004) (Myxiniformes: Myxinidae), is Widely Distributed in Japanese Coastal Waters

The hagfish species found in the Sea of Japan has commonly and erroneously been identified as Eptatretus atami (Dean, 1904). In this study, hagfish specimens were collected from four locations in the coastal area of Choshi, AwaKatsuyama, Enoshima and Noshiro in Japan for morphological and molecular analyses. Part of the cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 gene (COX1) in the mitochondrial DNA of hagfish specimens were sequenced to reconstructed a phylogenetic tree. Both morphological and molecular data suggest that the hagfish species from the Sea of Japan is not E. atami, but Eptatretus walkeri (McMillan and Wisner, 2004). The present study also indicates that E. walkeri is widely distributed not only on the Pacific coast of Honshu Island but also in the Sea of Japan.