Walleye Pollock Gadus chalcogrammus , a Species with Continuous Range from the Norwegian Sea to Korea, Japan, and California: New Records from the Siberian Arctic

• Published in: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
• Main Authors: Alexei M. Orlov, Maxim O. Rybakov, Elena V. Vedishcheva, Alexander A. Volkov, Svetlana Yu. Orlova
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021
• Subjects: Norwegian pollock Theragra finnmarchica; size; maturity; morphology; mtDNA CO1 gene; Arctic; Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering; VM1-989; Oceanography; GC1-1581; Barents Sea; Norwegian Sea; Laptev Sea; Kara Sea; Bering Strait; Pacific; Norway; laptev; North Atlantic; norwegian pollock; Theragra finnmarchica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9101141; https://doaj.org/article/65542d92a8814d39b0058aad396c8101

The first records of walleye pollock Gadus chalcogrammus Pallas, 1814 in the seas of the Siberian Arctic (the Laptev Sea, the Kara Sea, the southeastern Barents Sea), are documented. Information about the external morphology (morphometric and meristic characters), photos of sagittal otoliths and fish, and data on the sequences of the CO1 mtDNA gene are presented. The results of a comparative analysis indicate that walleye pollock caught in the Siberian Arctic do not differ in principle from North Pacific and North Atlantic individuals. Previous conclusions about the conspecificity of the walleye and Norwegian pollock Theragra finnmarchica are confirmed. New captures of walleye pollock in the Siberian Arctic allow us to formulate a hypothesis about its continuous species’ range from the coasts of Norway in the North Atlantic to the coasts of Korea, Japan, and California in the North Pacific. The few records of walleye pollock in the North Atlantic originate from the North Pacific due to the transport of early pelagic juveniles to the Arctic by currents through the Bering Strait and further active westward migrations of individuals which have switched to the bentho-pelagic mode of life.