Range Extensions and Significant Distributional Records for Eighty-Two Species of Fishes in Alaskan Marine Waters

Abstract

Increased fisheries survey effort over the last decade by the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC), through its Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering (RACE) and Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis (FMA) Divisions, has allowed biologists to collect voucher specimens and document the geographic distribution of marine fishes in Alaskan waters, including commercially important species as well as those more rarely encountered. A vouchering system allows for confirmation of field identifications, and access to specimens is ensured by their deposition at the University of Washington Burke Museum Fish Collection (UWFC). Herein we report the 1st Alaskan records for 10 species, the 1st Bering Sea records for 10 species, the 2nd or 3rd Alaskan records for 13 species, significant range extensions in the Bering Sea for 17 species, 9 species in the Aleutian Islands, 11 species in the Gulf of Alaska, and 8 species for which new records fill the gap in distribution across the North Pacific region. We also document specimens for 4 Alaska species previously cited in the literature without vouchers. A total of 83 species are discussed and photos are provided for 17 of the rarely encountered and poorly documented species.