The Biology of Hagfishes

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

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2. Evolution, Taxonomy and Ecology

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Relationships of Living and Fossil Hagfishes

      • David Bardack

      Pages 3-14

   3. Conodonts: A Sister Group to Hagfishes?

      • Richard J. Aldridge, Philip C. J. Donoghue

      Pages 15-31

   4. Hagfish Systematics

      • Bo Fernholm

      Pages 33-44

   5. Asian Hagfishes and their Fisheries Biology

      • Yoshiharu Honma

      Pages 45-56

   6. The Ecology of Hagfishes

      • Frederic H. Martini

      Pages 57-77

3. Development and Pathology

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 79-79

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   2. Chromatin Diminution and Chromosome Elimination in Hagfishes

      • Sei-ichi Kohno, Souichirou Kubota, Yasuharu Nakai

      Pages 81-100

   3. The Tumour Pathology of Myxine Glutinosa

      • Sture Falkmer

      Pages 101-105

4. The Integument and Associated Glands

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 107-107

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   2. Hagfish Skin and Slime Glands

      • Robert H. Spitzer, Elizabeth A. Koch

      Pages 109-132

   3. The Dermis

      • Ulrich Welsch, Simone Büchl, Rainer Erlinger

      Pages 133-142

5. Supporting Tissues

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 143-143

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   2. The Notochord

      • Ulrich Welsch, Akira Chiba, Yoshiharu Honma

      Pages 145-159

   3. Hagfish Cartilage

      • Glenda M. Wright, Fred W. Keeley, M. Edwin DeMont

      Pages 160-170

6. The Muscular System

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 171-171

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   2. The Skeletal Muscle Fibre Types of Myxine Glutinosa

      • Per R. Flood

      Pages 173-202

7. The Respiratory System

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 203-203

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   2. The Gills of Hagfishes

      • Helmut Bartels

      Pages 205-222

The hagfishes comprise a uniform group of some 60 species inhabiting the cool or deep parts of the oceans of both hemispheres. They are considered the most primitive representatives of the group of craniate chordates, which - apart from the hagfishes that show no traces of verte­ brae -includes all vertebrate animals. Consequently the hagfishes have played and still playa central role in discussions concerning the evolution of the vertebrates. Although most of the focus on hagfishes may be the result of their being primitive, it should not be forgotten that, at the same time, they are specialized animals with a unique way of life that is interesting in its own right. It is now more than 30 years since a comprehensive treatise on hagfishes was published. The Biology of Myxine, edited by Alf Brodal and Ragnar Fange (Universitetsforlaget, Oslo, 1963), provided a wealth of information on the biology of hagfishes, and over the years remained a major source of information and inspiration to students of hagfishes.

• Agnatha
• Integument
• animals
• biology
• development
• ecology
• environment
• evolution
• nervous system
• reproduction
• system
• systematics
• taxonomy
• tissue
• vertebrates

'... a mine of information on many aspects of hagfish biology. It succeeds because of its breadth and because of the consistent approach of the authors... highly recommended as a summary of current knowledge... belongs in every serious library and on the shelf of comparative vertebrate biologists.'
Copeia, 3 (2000)

• Department of Zoophysiology Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Aarhus, Denmark

  Jørgen Mørup Jørgensen, Jens Peter Lomholt, Roy E. Weber, Hans Malte

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