Specific features of distribution and ecology of the Japanese dog poacher Percis japonica (Agonidae) in Pacific waters off the northern Kuril Islands and southeastern Kamchatka

Abstract

According to materials of 1992–2002, data on the spatial-bathymetric distribution and size composition of the Japanese dog poacher Percis japonica in Pacific waters off the northern Kuril Islands and southeastern Kamchatka are provided. This comparatively scarce, medium-sized representative of the family Agonidae (maximum length of 46 cm) in the observation period was found in the lower part of the shelf and the upper bathyal over the entire study area from 47°50′ to 52°00′ N at depths of 76–770 m; however, its maximum catches (more than 200 individuals per hour of trawling) were constantly recorded in the spring and autumn months at the traverse of the Fourth Kuril Strait and at the eastern slope of the seamount of the northern link of the external Kuril Ridge, mainly in the range of 251–350 m at a temperature of 1.6–3.0°C. The relationship between the depth of catch and the average weight of P. japonica was analyzed. It was shown that the value of its catches in Pacific waters off the northern Kuril Islands and southeastern Kamchatka is subjected to some interannual, seasonal, and diurnal dynamics.