Amphiboreality and Distribution of Snailfishes (Cottiformes: Liparidae) in the Arctic and the North Atlantic

• Published in: Diversity
• Main Author: Natalia V. Chernova
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2022
• Subjects: amphiboreal concept; Careproctus; Liparis; Paraliparis; Psednos; Rhodichthys; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; Arctic; Southern Ocean; Arctic Ocean; Pacific; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/d14121097; https://doaj.org/article/56dc01d0e3694446915595d96b1a0780

The marine ichthyofauna of the Arctic Ocean has an ancestral origin from the Pacific Ocean and, to a lesser extent, from the Atlantic Ocean, which is explained by the amphiboreal concept, developed on groups of fish and invertebrates. Snailfishes (Liparidae) of the Arctic and the North Atlantic are analyzed in the context of this amphiboreal concept. The review is based on the data of many years of research on their taxonomy using various material of morphological differences/similarities of the taxa and patterns of species distribution against the background of biogeographic representations. For the Arctic area, 33 species of the family are known: Liparis (5), Careproctus (21), Paraliparis (2), Rhodichthys (2), and Psednos (3). For the Atlantic fauna, with the same number of species, their composition differs: Liparis (6), Careproctus (3), Paraliparis (12), Psednos (11), and Eutelichthys (1). The amphiboreal concept explains the speciation of Liparis and the majority of Careproctus as the result of trans-Arctic preglacial migrations. For other (deep-sea) species, the hypothesis of a transoceanic dispersal route is applicable; it passed from the North Pacific through the Southern Ocean and then north across the Atlantic.