Bob Wisner'S Hagfish

This species is distinguished from its congeners except E. gomoni, E. luzonicus, E. octatrema, E. okinoseanus by the following characters: eight pairs of gill apertures that are well-spaced and arranged in an almost straight line; teeth 3/2 multicusps pattern; total cusps 44-47 (vs. 50 in E. gomoni, 38-40 in E. octatrema); prebranchial pores 9-11 (vs. 12-13 in E. gomoni, 22-26 in E. octatrema, 13-17 in E. okinoseanus); trunk pores 43-47 (vs. 57-58 in E. gomoni, 63-68 in E. octatrema, 54-61 in E. okinoseanus); total pores 73-76 (vs. 91-93 in E. gomoni, 77-82 in E. indrambaryai, 84-88 in E. luzonicus, 104-117 in E. octatrema, 87-97 in E. okinoseanus); nasal-sinus papillae absent (vs. one single nasal-sinus papilla in E. luzonicus, two bilaterally symmetrical nasal-sinus papillae in E. octatrema) (Ref. 123790).Description: face mostly white, including mouth and base of labial barbels; other barbels dark, with occasional white spots or tips; eye spots distinct, large and irregularly shaped; ventral finfold vestigial or absent; caudal finfold well developed (Ref. 31788).

Copulatory organ absent. The gonads of hagfishes are situated in the peritoneal cavity. The ovary is found in the anterior portion of the gonad, and the testis is found in the posterior part. The animal becomes female if the cranial part of the gonad develops or male if the caudal part undergoes differentiation. If none develops, then the animal becomes sterile. If both anterior and posterior parts develop, then the animal becomes a functional hermaphrodite. However, hermaphroditism being characterised as functional needs to be validated by more reproduction studies (Ref. 51361 ).