Hagfish
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| Hagfish, the class Myxini (also known as Hyperotreti), are eel-shaped, slime-producing marine fish. They are the only known living animals that have a skull but no vertebral column. Along with lampreys, hagfish are jawless; they are the sister group to vertebrates, little changed in 300 million years. Average length is 0.5 m (19.7 in). The eyes are basic light detectors. Hagfish have no fins and several barbels around the mouth and a single nostril. The mouth has 2 pairs of teeth on a plate that protracts and retracts. They are predators of worms and other invertebrates, and can twist their body into a knot for leverage to tear flesh from a carcass. Distribution is worldwide in cold waters with muddy bottoms.
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 White-headed hagfish
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White-headed hagfish
| phylum | Chordata | The white-headed hagfish, Myxine ios, is a species of hagfish, with a length of 57 cm (22 in). Only a few deep-water specimens have been collected off the coasts of Ireland and Africa. This species shares the typical characteristics of other hagfish, as described on the taxonomy page.
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| class | Myxini or cyclostomata | |
| order | Myxiniformes or myxinoidea | |
| family | Myxinidae | |
| genus | Myxine | |
| species | M. ios |
