Inshore hagfish

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Inshore hagfish (Eptatretus burgeri)

The inshore hagfish is a slime-producing jawless fish found in the Northwest Pacific, from the Sea of Japan to eastern Japan and Taiwan. It usually lives buried in the bottom mud in shallow coastal waters and moves to deeper water to spawn.

Appearance and biology
- It has six pairs of gill pouches and gill openings, with a seventh opening near but separate from a nearby duct.
- It spends most of its life in the sublittoral zone and is known for producing slime when disturbed.
- It is the only member of its family to have a seasonal reproductive cycle. Reproduction is not well understood, though scientists have managed to breed Eptatretus burgeri in the lab.

Conservation
- Status: Near Threatened.

Human use
- The skin is processed into “eel skin” in Korea and exported worldwide.
- It is eaten in parts of Korea and Japan, especially in Nagasaki and Niigata.
- It has local names in Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.

Notes
- Like other hagfish, the inshore hagfish releases slime when agitated.