First Data on the Distribution, Some Features of Ecology and Size Composition of Rock Greenling Hexagrammos lagocephalus (Hexagrammidae) in the Southwestern Bering Sea during the Winter-Spring Period

Abstract

Based on the materials collected during the monitoring of bottom trawl fishery, the data on the distribution, thermal habitat conditions and size composition of the rock greenling Hexagrammos lagocephalus in the southwestern Bering Sea in the winter-spring period are presented for the first time. The main sites of catches of this species are located in areas with a complex bottom relief, mainly at protruding capes at depths of 134–498 m at a near-bottom layer of water temperature of 0.5–3.8°C. High frequency of occurrence and catches in February–March were recorded in the range from 201–400 m, while in April–May, a gradual migration of some fish to the shelf was observed. It was found that rock greenling is not characterized by spatial changes in the size composition, and the catches are mainly formed by medium-sized individuals with a total length of 39–47 cm. The results of the analysis of the length–weight relationship of fish in the southwestern Bering Sea in comparison with that in the Pacific waters off Kamchatka and the northern Kuril Islands may indicate a similar growth pattern of rock greenling in adjacent waters.