Hagfish Biology

With over 70 species still populating the world’s oceans after approximately 500 million years, hagfishes are essential benthic organisms that play a vital role in understanding the evolutionary origins of vertebrate life and the maintenance of the oceanic ecosystem. Hagfish Biology is a long overdue book for communicating and furthering study on these unique animals. It provides an avenue of synergy among scientists interested in hagfish physiology, molecular and evolutionary biology, morphology, and protection.New high throughput sequencing technologies, advanced microscopy techniques, descriptions of hagfish embryology, and developments of techniques to understand ancient evolutionary relationships have led to a resurgence of interest in the hagfish as a key species in understanding the evolution of vertebrates. Inspired by these new research perspectives, this book compiles scientific information on hagfishes that is of interest to a range of fields such as ecology and evolution, comparative physiology, and conservation biology.A much-needed contribution, Hagfish Biology builds on previous knowledge while encouraging further expansion of scientific interest and learning about this fascinating yet understudied key evolutionary species. It introduces you to developing areas of research and provides beginning points for a larger conversation on hagfishes.

Anatomy of the Pacific hagfish (Eptatretus stoutii). Hagfish fisheries research. Fossil hagfishes, fossil cyclostomes, and the lost world of "ostracoderms". Hagfish embryology: Staging table and relevance to the evolution and development of vertebrates. Photoreception in hagfishes: Insights into the evolution of vision. The hagfish heart. Endothelium in hagfish. The adaptive immune system of hagfish. Hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal endocrine system in the hagfish. Corticosteroid signaling pathways in hagfish. Acid/base and ionic regulation in hagfish. Feeding, digestion, and nutrient absorption in hagfish. Hagfish slime: Origins, functions, and mechanisms.

Susan L. Edwards, PhD, is professor of biology and chairperson at Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. She received her PhD in comparative physiology from Deakin University in 2000. Her research program focuses on the identification and localization of ion transport mechanisms associated with osmotic balance, acid/base homeostasis, and more recently nitrogenous waste excretion in fishes. She is an active member of the American Fisheries Society and is currently the president-elect of its physiology section. She is also a member of the Canadian Society of Zoology, the Society for Experimental Biology, the Australian and New Zealand Society of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry, and is a life member of the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory. She serves on the editorial board of Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology and has served on a number of panels for the National Science Foundation.Greg G. Goss, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta, Canada, and is cross-appointed to the School of Public Health. He is also a Fellow of the National Institute of Nanotechnology. He earned his PhD at the University of Ottawa. He is the past winner of the Petro-Canada Young Innovator Award, the Canadian Society of Zoologists Early Investigator Award, the American Physiological Society Young Investigator Award, the McCalla award for teaching and research, and was awarded a Killam Annual Professorship in 2009–2010. Dr. Goss’ research focuses on toxicology and comparative physiology in a variety of fish species. He has served as president of the Canadian Society of Zoologists and serves on the councils of numerous national and international societies. He is an associate editor of the Canadian Journal of Zoology and is on the editorial boards for Nanotoxicology and Environmental Science: Nano.