An Annotated List of Cartilaginous Fishes (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii, Holocephali) of the Coastal Waters of Sakhalin Island and the Adjacent Southern Part of the Sea of Okhotsk

Abstract

An annotated list of cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii, Holocephali) is given for the first time in the 200-year history of studying the ichthyofauna of Sakhalin Island and adjacent waters of the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk (including the coast of Hokkaido Island) and the northern Sea of Japan. The list includes 43 species in two classes, eight orders, 16 families, and 25 genera. Information on nature conservation status, English and Latin names, depths of habitat, and distribution within the coastal waters of Sakhalin are presented. For a number of species caught off the coast of Sakhalin and in the adjacent waters, information is provided on collection specimens confirming their presence in the region under study. For a number of species of the Rajiformes order (Arctoraja parmifera, A. smirnovi, A. simoterus), the modern ranges and taxonomic status are being refined in the light of new data. The taxonomic status of the so-called “disputed” taxa is discussed as well as the validity of the species considered in the Bathyraja matsubarai complex. Based on the study of the collections, Arctoraja simoterus, previously unknown in the waters of Russia, as well as Myliobatis tobijei, caught in the Bering Sea, has been discovered, which significantly expands the range of this species to the north.