Composition and distribution of fish species collected during the Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition in 2010

Abstract

There are awareness and concerns caused by the decreasing sea ice coverage around the Arctic and Antarctic due to effects of climate change. Emphasis in this study was on rapid changes in Arctic sea ice coverage and its impacts on the marine ecology during the fourth Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition in 2010. Our purpose was to establish a baseline of Arctic fish compositions, and consequent effects of climate change on the fish community and biogeography. Fish specimens were collected using a multinet middle-water trawl, French-type beam trawl, otter trawl, and triangular bottom trawl. In total, 36 tows were carried out along the shelf of the Bering Sea, Bering Strait, and Chukchi Sea in the Arctic Ocean. In total, 41 fish species belonging to 14 families in 7 orders were collected during the expedition. Among them, the Scorpaeniformes, including 17 species, accounted for almost one third of the total number (34.8%), followed by 14 species of the Perciformes (27.0%), 5 species of the Pleuronectiformes (22.3%), and 2 species of the Gadiformes (15.4%). The top 6 most abundant species were Hippoglossoides robustus, Boregadus saida, Myoxocephalus scorpius, Lumpenus fabricii, Artediellus scaber, and Gymnocanthus tricuspis. Abundant species varied according to the different fishing methods; numbers of families and species recorded did not differ with the various fishing methods; species and abundances decreased with depth and latitude; and species extending over their known geographic ranges were observed during the expedition. Station information, species list, and color photographs of all fishes are provided.