A New Western Atlantic Species of Five-Gilled Hagfish (Myxinidae: Eptatretus) from the Bahamas

A new species of the hagfish genus Eptatretus (Myxinidae) is described based on a single female specimen, 296 mm total length, collected from the Bahamas, off southern Grand Bahama Island, Northwest Providence Channel, between depths of 560 and 591 m. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by having five pairs of well-spaced gill apertures arranged in a nearly straight line, a 3/2 multicusp pattern of teeth, 54 total tooth cusps, 18 prebranchial slime pores, 4–5 branchial pores, 47–49 trunk pores, 82–85 total pores, and two bilaterally symmetrical nasal-sinus papillae. We also discuss the taxonomy of a specimen from Suriname provisionally named as Eptatretus sp. by Shimizu. A distribution map and an updated identification key for all species of Eptatretus and Rubicundus from the western Atlantic are provided.