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Agnatha - Lamprey, Hagfish

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Super Class: Agnatha

Agnatha are jawless fish. Lampreys and hagfish are in this class. Members of the agnatha class are probably the earliest vertebrates. Scientists have found fossils of agnathan species from the late Cambrian Period that occurred 500 million years ago.

Members of this class of fish don't have paired fins or a stomach. Adults and larvae have a notochord. A notochord is a flexible rod-like cord of cells that provides the main support for the body of an organism during its embryonic stage. A notochord is found in all chordates.

Most agnathans have a skeleton made of cartilage and seven or more paired gill pockets. They have a light sensitive pineal eye. A pineal eye is a third eye in front of the pineal gland. Fertilization of eggs takes place outside the body.

The lamprey looks like an eel, but it has a jawless sucking mouth that it attaches to a fish. It is a parasite and sucks tissue and fluids out of the fish it is attached to. The lamprey's mouth has a ring of cartilage that supports it and rows of horny teeth that it uses to latch on to a fish.

Lampreys are found in temperate rivers and coastal seas and can range in size from 5 to 40 inches. Lampreys begin their lives as freshwater larvae. In the larval stage, lamprey usually are found on muddy river and lake bottoms where they filter feed on microorganisms.

The larval stage can last as long as seven years! At the end of the larval state, the lamprey changes into an eel-like creature that swims and usually attaches itself to a fish. There are around 50 living species of lampreys.

The hagfish is also know as the slime fish. It is eel-like and pinkish in color. It has glands along its sides that produce a thick, sticky slime that it uses as a defense mechanism. The hagfish can also twist its body into knots! It may do this to clean off slime or escape predators. The hagfish may also sneeze to clear its nostrils of slime.

The hagfish is almost completely blind, but it has a good sense of touch and smell. It has a ring of tentacles around its mouth that it uses to feel for food. It has a tongue-like projection that comes out of its jawless mouth. At the end of the projection are tooth-like rasps that close when the "tongue" is pulled back into the hagfish's mouth.

The hagfish eats marine worms and other invertebrates. It has a very low metabolism and can go for as long as seven months without eating. Newly hatched hagfish are miniature copies of the adult hagfish. The hagfish is found in cold ocean waters in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. It is found on muddy sea floors and may live in very large groups of up to 15,000 individuals. There are about 60 species of hagfish.

gallery Agnatha Photo Gallery

World Status Key
Least Concern Near Threatened Vulnerable Endangered Critically Endangered Extinct in Wild Extinct Not Enough Data
Status and range is taken from ICUN Redlist.

U.S. Status Key

Threatened in US

Endangered in US

Introduced
Status taken from US Fish and Wildlife. Click on U.S. status icon to go to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife species profile.

New Hampshire Status Key

Threatened in NH

Endangered in NH

Breeds in NH (birds)
Status taken from NH Fish and Game

Location Key
Africa Asia Australia/Oceania Europe North America South America NH Click for More Info Click for Image
Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Mediterranean/Black Sea Pacific Ocean

New Hampshire Species

North/Central American Species

American Brook Lamprey - Lampetra appendix

Sea Lamprey-Petromyzon marinus

Kern Brook Lamprey - Lampetra hubbsi

Klamath Lamprey - Lampetra similis

Lake Lamprey - Lampetra macrostoma

Least Brook Lamprey - Lampetra aepyptera

Mexican Lamprey - Lampetra spadicea

Miller Lake Lamprey - Entosphenus minimus

Mountain Brook Lamprey - Ichthyomyzon greeleyi

Northern Brook Lamprey - Ichthyomyzon fossor

Ohio Lamprey - Ichthyomyzon bdellium

Pacific Hagfish - Eptatretus stoutii

Pacific Lamprey - Entosphenus tridentatus

Patagonian Hagfish - Myxine affinis

Pit-Klamath Brook Lamprey - Lampetra lethophaga

Shorthead Hagfish - Eptatretus mcconnaugheyi

Silver Lamprey - Ichthyomyzon unicuspis

Southern Brook Lamprey - Ichthyomyzon gagei

Western Brook Lamprey - Lampetra richardsoni

North/Central American Species

Alaskan Brook Lamprey - Lampetra alaskensis

Arctic Lamprey - Lethenteron japonicum

Atlantic Hagfish - Myxine glutinosa

Black Hagfish - Eptatretus deani

Caribbean Hagfish - Myxine mcmillanae

Chestnut Lamprey - Ichthyomyzon castaneus

Chilean Hagfish - Eptatretus polytrema
Cortez Hagfish - Eptatretus sinus

Guadalupe Hagfish - Eptatretus fritzi

Goose Lake Lamprey - Lampetra tridentata

Gulf Hagfish - Paramyxine springeri

Inshore Hagfish - Eptatretus burgeri

Selected Species Around the World
Broadgilled Hagfish - Eptatretus cirrhatus Brook Lamprey - Lampetra planeri Brown Hagfish - Paramyxine atami Cape Hagfish - Myxine capensis Carpathian Lamprey - Eudontomyzon danfordi Dwarf Hagfish- Myxine pequenoi Eightgilled Hagfish - Eptatretus octatrema Fivegill Hagfish - Eptatretus profundus Goliath Hagfish - Eptatretus goliath Greek Brook Lamprey - Eudontomyzon hellenicus		Lombardy Brook Lamprey - Lampetra zanandreai Longfin Hagfish - Eptatretus longipinnis Lulua River Lamprey - Aplocheilichthys katangae Non-parasitic Lamprey - Mordacia praecox River Lamprey - Lampetra fluviatilis Sixgill Hagfish - Eptatretus hexatrema Southern Hagfish - Myxine australis Strickrott's Hagfish - Eptatretus strickrotti Ukranian Brook Lamprey - Eudontomyzon mariae Vladykov's Lamprey - Eudontomyzon vladykovi White-headed Hagfish - Myxine ios

Additional Information

Key: Profile Photos Video Audio NH Species

American Brook Lamprey - Lampetra appendix
The American brook lamprey is found in the eastern U.S. and southeastern Canada.
Source:US Geological Survey Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Atlantic Hagfish - Myxine glutinosa
The Atlantic hagfish is found on both sides of the north Atlantic Ocean.
Source: Sea and Sky Intended Audience: Student Reading Level: Middle School

Atlantic Hagfish - Myxine glutinosa
The Atlantic hagfish preys on shrimp, worms, and small crabs
Source: NOAA Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Brook Lamprey - Lampetra planeri
The brook lamprey is found in small brooks, streams, lakes, and rivers across Europe.
Source: Arkive Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Northern Brook Lamprey - Ichthyomyzon fossor
Northern brook lamprey are found in many areas of the midwestern and northeastern United States.
Source: Animal Diversity Web Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Southern Brook Lamprey - Ichthyomyzon gagei
Southern brook lampreys are found in the Mississippi River basin, the Tennessee River drainage, and Gulf of Mexico drainages.
Source: Animal Diversity Web Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

River Lamprey - Lampetra fluviatilis
The river lamprey is found in western Europe from Sweden and Finland south to France and east to Russia.
Source: Arkive Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Sea Lamprey - Petromyzon marinus
The sea lamprey is found on both sides of the North Atlantic.
Source: Arkive Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Sea Lamprey - Petromyzon marinus
In North American the sea lamprey is found on the east coast of United States and Canada.
Source: EEK - Environmental Education for Kids Intended Audience: Students Reading Level: Elementary School

Pacific Hagfish - Eptatretus stoutii
The Pacific hagfish is found on muddy bottoms in cold ocean waters along the Pacific Coast from Vancouver, Canada south to Baja California, Mexico.
Source: Animal Diversity Web Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Pacific Hagfish - Eptatretus stoutii
The Pacific hagfish is also known as the slime eel.
Source: Monterey Bay Aquarium Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Pacific Hagfish - Eptatretus stoutii
The hagfish can tie itself into a knot.
Source: Aquarium of the Pacific Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Pacific Hagfish - Eptatretus stoutii
Hagfish eat worms and invertebrates, but they also enter both dying and dead fish and eat them from the inside out.
Source: Oregon Coast Aquarium Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Pacific Hagfish - Eptatretus stoutii
Hagfish have been around, mostly unchanged, since the Paleozoic era 450 million years ago.
Source: California Department of Fish and Wildlife Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Pacific Lamprey - Entosphenus tridentatus
The Pacific lamprey is born in fresh water, matures in the ocean, and returns to fresh water to reproduce. It dies after reproduction.
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Agnatha - Lamprey, Hagfish

Classification

New Hampshire Species

North/Central American Species

North/Central American Species

Selected Species Around the World

Additional Information

Explore the Natural World - Local & National PBS Video