Notes on the fishes of the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago and the spawning area of polar cod Boreogadus saida (Gadidae)

N.V. Chernova, V.A. Spiridonov, V.L. Syomin and M.V. Gavrilo

Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS, 2021, 325(2): 248–268 · https://doi.org/10.31610/trudyzin/2021.325.2.248

Full text

Abstract

Data on the fishes of the high-latitude Severnaya Zemlya archipelago (the North Land) is presented. The archipelago is located in the Arctic on the border between the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea. The ichthyofauna of the archipelago has not been studied; therefore, even small collections are of interest. Fish samples were obtained during the expedition “Open Ocean: Arctic Archipelagos – 2019: Severnaya Zemlya”. In addition, the samples from this area in the collections of the Zoological Institute (ZIN) were studied, which have been received from polar expeditions to the Kara and Laptev seas during the entire era of polar research. The most significant fact is the discovery of mass accumulation of polar cod Boreogadus saida (Lepechin, 1774) larvae in Mikoyan Bay (Bolshevik Island), which gives evidence of important spawning grounds near Severnaya Zemlya. Indirect evidence of this can be found in the publications of polar explorers who overwintered on Severnaya Zemlya in the 1930s–1950s and have reported that the polar cod approaches the shores for spawning in August, in huge schools. The waters of Severnaya Zemlya represent the spawning area of polar cod in the central part of the Eurasian shelf, which is not mentioned in current literature. In addition to polar cod, a few more species are registered in samples from the coastal waters of the archipelago (depths to 38 m), rough hookear sculpin Artediellus scaber Knipowitsch, 1907, twohorn sculpin Icelus bicornis (Reinhardt, 1840) (family Cottidae), Liparis tunicatus Reinhardt, 1836, black-bellied snailfish L. cf. fabricii (Liparidae), Knipowich eelpout Gymnelus knipowitschi Chernova, 1999 (Zoarcidae) and three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Gasterosteidae). In the deepwater straits, snailfish Careproctus sp. (174–234 m) and pale eelpout Lycodes pallidus Collett, 1879 (105–348 m) were found. The Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Salmonidae) inhabits some lakes of the archipelago. This is the first finding of a three-spined stickleback in the east of the Kara Sea.

Key words

Artediellus, Boreogadus, Gasterosteus, Gymnelus, Icelus, Laptev Sea, Liparis, Lycodes, Kara Sea, Salvelinus, Severnaya Zemlya, spawning

Submitted May 7, 2021 · Accepted June 8, 2021 · Published June 25, 2021

References

Ajiad A., Oganin I. A. and Gjosater H. 2011. Polar cod. In: T. Jakobsen and V.K. Ozhigin (Eds). The Barents Sea ecosystem, resources, management. Tapir Academic Press, Trondheim, Norway: 315–328.

Alekseyev S.S., Makarova O.L. and Smirina E.M. 2003. Lacustrine arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus complex from Bolshevik Island (the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago). Journal of Ichthyology, 43(9): 809–813.

Altukhov K.A. 1981. The reproduction and development of the arctic cod, Boreogadus saida, in the White Sea. Journal of Ichthyology, 19: 93–101.

Andriashev A.P. 1954. Fishes of the Northern Seas of the USSR. Akademiya Nauk SSSR, Moscow, Leningrad, 556 p. [In Russian].

Andriashev A.P., Mukhomediyarov B.F. and Pavshtiks E.A. 1980. Mass agglomerations of cryopelagic fishes Boreogadus saida and Arctogadus glacialis in circumpolar areas of the Arctic. In: M.E. Vinogradov and I.A. Mel’nikov (Eds). Biology of the Central Arctic Basin. Nauka, Moscow: 196–211. [In Russian].

Aronovich T.M., Doroshev S.I., Spectorova L.V. and Makhotin V.M. 1975. Egg incubation and larval rearing of navaga (Eleginus navaga Pall.), polar cod (Boreogadus saida Lepechin) and Arctic flounder (Liopsetta glacialis Pall.) in the laboratory. Aquaculture, 6(3): 233–242. [In Russian]. https://doi.org/10.1016/0044-8486(75)90043-5

Aune M., Raskhozheva E., Andrade H., Augustine S., Bambulyak A., Camus L., Carroll J., Dolgov A.V., Hop H., Moiseev D., Renaud P.E. and Varpe O. 2021. Distribution and ecology of polar cod (Boreogadus saida) in the eastern Barents Sea: A review of historical literature. Marine Environmental Research, 166: 105262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2021.105262

Averintsev V.G. 1989. Some peculiarities of the distribution of biota on the upper shelf of the Severnaya Zemlya. In: G.G. Matishov (Ed.). Ecology and bioresources of the Kara Sea. Kolskij nauchnyj centr AN SSSR, Apatity: 150–153. [In Russian].

Avetisov G.P. 2014. Nina Petrovna Demme: the first woman to be the head of the polar station. Rossiyskiye Polyarnye Issledovaniya, 2: 52–54. [In Russian].

Balushkin A.V., Sheiko B.A. and Prirodina V.P. 2012. Catalog of specimens in the collection of the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences. Osteichthyes. Zoarcoidei: Bathymasteridae, Zoarcidae, Cryptacanthodidae, Ptilichthyidae, and Zaproridae. Icosteoidei: Icosteidae. Exploration of the Fauna of the Seas, 71/79: 1–196. [In Russian].

Bassford R.P., Siegert M.J., Dowdeswell J.A., Oerlemans J., Glazovsky A.F. and Macheret Y.Y. 2006. Quantifying the mass balance of ice caps on Severnaya Zemlya, Russian High Arctic. I: Climate and mass balance of the Vavilov ice cap. Arctic, Antarctic,and Alpine Research, 38(1): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1657/1523-0430(2006)038%5b0001:QTMBOI%5d2.0.CO;2

Belikov S.E. and Randla T.E. 1987. Fauna of birds and mammals of the Severnaya Zemlya. In: E.E. Syroechkovsky (Ed.). Fauna and ecology of birds and mammals in Central Siberia. Nauka, Moscow: 18–28. [In Russian].

Bluhm B.A., Janout M.A., Danielson S.L., Ellingsen I., Gavrilo M., Grebmeier J.M., Hopcroft R.R., Iken K.B., Ingvaldsen R.B., Jorgensen L.L., Kosobokova K.N., Kwok R., Polyakov I.V., Renaud P.E. and Carmack E.C. 2020. The Pan-Arctic continental slope: Sharp gradients of physical processes affect pelagic and benthic ecosystems. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7: 544386. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.544386

Bolshakova Ya.Yu. and Bolshakov D.V. 2018. Ichthyofauna of the bays of the eastern coast of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. Oceanology, 58(2): 246–250. https://doi.org/10.1134/s0001437018020017

Bolshiyanov D.Yu. and Makeev V.M. 1995. Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago: glaciation, natural history of the environment. Hydrometeoizdat, Saint Petersburg, 216 p. [In Russian].

Borkin I.V. 1990. Reproduction and early ontogenesis in Boreogadus saida (Lepechin) from the Barents Sea. Abstract of the Candidate of Biological Sciences thesis. VNIRO, Moscow, 21 p. [In Russian].

Borkin I.V., Vesilyev A.V. and Chetyrkina O.Yu. 2008. Ichthyofauna. In: I.V. Borkin, A.V, Dolgov, A.P. Pedchenko and M.S. Shevelyov (Eds). Ecosystem of the Kara Sea. PINRO, Murmansk: 130–206. [In Russian].

Borodkin V.A., Kovalev S.M. and Shushlebin A.I. 2018. Spatial heterogeneity in the structure fast ice level in the area of the research station “Ice base Cape of Baranov”. Arctic and Antarctic Research, 64(4): 351–364. [In Russian]. https://doi.org/10.30758/0555-2648-2018-64-4-351-364

Bryazgin N.N. and Yunak R.I. 1988. Air temperature and precipitation in Severnaya Zemlya in periods of ablation and accumulation. In: E.C. Korotkevich and V.Y. Petrov (Eds). Geographic and glaciological research in polar countries. Nauka, Leningrad: 70–81. [In Russian].

Burmakin E.V. 1957. Fishes of the islands of the Soviet Arctic. Trudi Arkticheskogo instituta, 205: 127–151. [In Russian].

Chereshnev I.A. 2008. Freshwater fishes of Chukotka. Severo-Vostochny nauchnyj tsentr DVO RAN, Magadan, 324 p. [In Russian].

Chernova N.V. 1991. Snailfishes of the Eurasian Arctic. Kolskij nauchnyj tsentr AN SSSR, Apatity, 111 p. [In Russian].

Chernova N. 2018. Arctic cod in the Russian Arctic: new data, with notes on intraspecific forms. Journal of Aquaculture and Marine Biology, 7(1): 00180. https://doi.org/10.15406/jamb.2018.07.00180

Chernova N.V., Friedlander A.M., Turchik A. and Sala E. 2014. Franz Josef Land: extreme northern outpost for Arctic fishes, PeerJ 2: e692. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.692

Craig P.C., Griffiths W.B., Haldorson L. and McElderry H. 1982. Ecological studies of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) in Beaufort Sea coastal waters, Alaska. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 39: 395–406. https://doi.org/10.1139/f82-057

Dolgov A.V., Novoselov A.P., Prokhorova T.A., Fuks G.V., Prozorkevich D.V., Chernova N.V., Sherstkov V.S. and Levitsky A.L. 2018. Atlas and key of the Kara Sea fishes. PINRO, Murmansk, 280 p. [In Russian].

Dolgov A.V., Smirnov O.V., Drevetnyak K.V. and Chetyrkina O.Yu. 2008. New data on composition and structure of the Kara Sea ichthyofauna. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea ICES, CM2009/E: 32. https://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/CM%20Doccuments/CM-2009/E/E3209.pdf

Dorofeyeva E.A. and Prirodina V.P. 2011. Catalog of specimens in the collection of the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences. Osteichthyes, Salmoniformes. Explorations of the Fauna of the Seas, 67/75: 1–154. [In Russian].

Eriksen E., Huserbraten M., Gjosater H., Vikebo F. and Albretsen J. 2020. Polar cod egg and larval drift patterns in the Svalbard archipelago. Polar Biology, 43(8), 1029–1042. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-019-02549-6

Esipov V.K. 1933. Fishes collected by the expedition on board of icebreaker “Sedov” in 1930 to the Franz Josef Land and to Severnaya Zemlya. Trudi Arkticheskogo instituta, 8: 93–100. [In Russian].

Esipov V.K. 1952. Fishes of the Kara Sea. AN SSSR, Leningrad, 145 p. [In Russian].

Gavrilo M.V. 2020. Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla. In: I.N. Mokievsky, A.I. Isachenko and E.A. Smirnova (Eds). Species – biological indicators of the environment of the Arctic marine ecosystems. NIR Foundation, Moscow: 245–251. [In Russian] https://www.rosneft.ru/upload/site1/attach/0/10/22/Biologicheskie_indikatory.pdf

Gavrilo M.V., Spiridonov V.A., Kosobokova K.N., Romanenko F.A., Krasheninnikov A.B., Ezhov A.V., Basin A.B., Syomin V.L., Baranskaya A.V., Alayutdinov A.R., Lugovoi N.N., Golubev S.V., Solomatov A.S. and Kuzmin E.M. 2019. Coastal ecosystem of the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago, one of the least studied in the Arctic: new data of the expedition “Open ocean: arctic archipelagoes – 2019”. Proceedings of VIII International Conference “Marine research and education, Moscow, 28–31 October 2019”. Polipress, Tver’, 2: 268–273.

Gavrilo M.V., Spiridonov V.A., Romanenko F.A., Krasheninnikov A.B. and Kosobokova K.N. 2020. Expeditions of the Open Ocean Project in 2019. First part: O2A2-2019: Severnaya Zemlya. Rossiyskiye Polyarnye Issledovaniya, 39: 42–46. [In Russian].

Gorbunov G.P. 1946. Hydrobiological peculiarities of the Shokalsky Strait. Problemy Arktiki, 3: 55–68. [In Russian].

Gordeeva N.V. and Mishin A.V. 2019. Population genetic diversity of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) of Russian Arctic Seas. Journal of Ichthyology, 59(2): 246–254. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945219020073

Govorukha L.S. and Bogdashevsky B.I. 1970. Climate. In: R.K. Sisko (Ed.). Taymyr-Severozemelskaya oblast (Physical and geographical characteristics). Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad: 63–94. [In Russian].

Graham M. and Hop H. 1995. Aspects of reproduction and larval biology of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida). Arctic, 48(2): 130–135. https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic1234

Ivanova E.I. 1959. Ichthyofauna and fisheries of the Kara Bay (based on the materials of the Kara expedition, 1945–1946). Problemy Severa, 3: 78–90. [In Russian].

Kara Sea 2021. Hydrology of the Kara Sea. Resource of AARI. Available from: http://www.aari.ru/resources/a0013_17/kara/Atlas_Kara_Sea_Winter/text/rejim.htm (Accessed 05 April 2021). [In Russian].

Kashkina A.A. 1962. Ichthyoplankton of the southeastern part of the Barents Sea. Trudy Murmanskogo Morskogo Biologicheskogo Instituta, 4(8): 97–133. [In Russian].

Khmyznikova V.A. 1937. Distribution of biological indicators in the straits of Shokalsky and Vilkitsky (based on the materials of the expedition on board of icebreaker “Rusanov” in 1932). Trudy Arkticheskogo Instituta, 82: 145–159. [In Russian].

Kent D., Drost H.E., Fisher J., Oyama T. and Farrell A.P. 2016. Laboratory rearing of wild Arctic cod Boreogadus saida from egg to adulthood. Journal of Fish Biology, 88(3): 1241–1248. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.12893

Knipowitsch N. 1897. Verzeichniss der Fische des Weissen und Murmanschen Meeres. Ezhegodnik Zoologicheskogo Muzeya Imperatorskoj Akademii Nauk, 2: 144–158.

Kubryakov A., Stanichny S. and Zatsepin A. 2016. River plume dynamics in the Kara Sea from altimetry-based lagrangian model, satellite salinity and chlorophyll data. Remote Sensing of Environment, 176: 177–187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2016.01.020

Laktionov A.F. 1936. Severnaya Zemlya. OGIZSevkraigiz, Arkhangelsk, 126 p. [In Russian].

Laktionov A.F. 1946. Severnaya Zemlya. Glavsevmorput’, Moscow–Leningrad, 151 p. [In Russian].

Matkovsky A.K. 2006. Fishes of the Ob and Taz bays of the Kara Sea. In: D.S. Pavlov and A.D. Mochek (Eds). Fish ecology of the Ob-Irtysh basin. KMK, Moscow: 311–326. [In Russian].

Melnikov I.A. and Chernova N.V. 2013. Characteristics of under-ice swarming of polar cod Boreogadus saida (Gadidae) in the central Arctic Ocean. Journal of Ichthyology, 53(1): 22–30. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945213010086

Moskalenko B.K. 1964. On the biology of the polar cod (Arctic cod) Boreogadus saida (Lepechin). Voprosy Ichthyologii, 4(3): 433–443. [In Russian].

Nelson R.J., Bouchard C., Fortier L., Majewski A.R., Reist J.D., Prabel K.·Madsen M.L. Rose G.A., Kessel S.T. and Divoky G.J. 2020. Circumpolar genetic population structure of polar cod, Boreogadus saida. Polar Biology, 43(8): 951–961. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02660-z

Oganin I.A. 2013. Description of the species, range and populations. In: V.D. Boitsov, A.V. Dolgov, A.I. Krysov, E.I. Seliverstova and M.S. Shevelev (Eds). Polar cod of the Barents Sea. PINRO, Murmansk: 27–31. [In Russian].

Oganin I.A. and Borkin I.A. 2013. Areas and timing of spawning. In: V.D. Boitsov, A.V. Dolgov, A.I. Krysov, E.I. Seliverstova and M.S. Shevelev (Eds). Polar cod of the Barents Sea. PINRO, Murmansk: 73–76. [In Russian].

Orlov A.M., Benzik A.N., Vedischeva E.V., Gorbatenko K.M., Goryanina S.V., Zubarevich V.L., Kodryan K.V., Nosov M.A., Orlova S Yu., Pedchenko A.P., Rybakov M.O. and Sokolov A.M. 2020a. Preliminary results of fishery research in the Laptev Sea onboard the R/V “Professor Levanidov” in September 2019. Trudy VNIRO, 179: 206–225. [In Russian]. https://doi.org/10.36038/2307-3497-2020-179-206-225

Orlov A.M., Benzik A.N., Rybakov M.O., Nosov M.A., Gorbatenko K.M., Vedishcheva E.V. and Orlova S. Yu. 2020b. Some preliminary results of biological research in the Kara Sea onboard the R/V “Professor Levanidov” in September 2019. Trudy VNIRO, 182: 201–215. [In Russian]. http://www.vniro.ru/files/trydi_vniro/archive/tv_2020_t_182_article_16.pdf

Pechenik L.N., Ponomarenko V.P. and Shepel L.I. 1973. Biology and fishery of the Barents Sea polar cod. Pishchevaya promyshlennost’, Moscow, 68 p. [In Russian].

Ponomarenko V.P. 1968. Some data on the distribution and migrations of polar cod in the seas of the Soviet Arctic. Rapports et Procès-Verbaux des Réunions du Conseil Permanent International pour l’Exploration de la Mer, 158: 131–135.

Ponomarenko V.P. 2000. Eggs, larvae, and juveniles of the polar cod Boreogadus saida in the Barents, Kara, and White Seas. Voprosy Ikhtiologii, 40: 203–211. [In Russian].

Ponomareva L.A. 1949. Eggs and larvae of fish from the Kara Sea. Trudi VNIRO, 17: 191–205. [In Russian].

Popov P.A. 2013. Fishes of the Subarctic of Western Siberia: habitat conditions, structure of ichthyocenoses, ecology. Novosibirskij Gosudarstvennyj Universitet, Novosibirsk, 206 p. [In Russian].

Probatov A.N. 1934. Materials on scientific and commercial survey of Kara Bay and the Kara River. VNIRO, Moscow, 164 p. [In Russian].

Rass T.S. 1949. The Barents Sea ichthyofauna composition, and description of egg and larvae. Trudy VNIRO, 17: 9–65. [In Russian].

Rass T. 1968. Spawning and development of polar cod. Rapports et Procès-Verbaux des Réunions du Conseil Permanent International pour l’Exploration de la Mer, 158: 135–137.

Rogacheva E.V. 1987. Yenisey zoogeographic boundary of the Palaearctic: modern aspects of the problem. In: E.E. Syroechkovsky (Ed.). Fauna and ecology of birds and mammals in Central Siberia. Nauka, Moscow: 9–18. [In Russian].

Savatyugin L.M. and Dorozhkina M.V. 2010. Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago: History, names, and titles. Nauka, Saint Petersburg, 191 p. [In Russian].

Savatyugin L.M. and Shevnina E.V. 2003. Severnaya Zemlya: 90 years after the discovery. Priroda, 11: 5–65. [In Russian]. http://vivovoco.astronet.ru/VV/JOURNAL/NATURE/11_03/NORD.HTM

Semenov V.N. 1989. Benthos of the Kara Sea. General information about the formation of fauna and flora. In: G.G. Matishov (Ed.). Ecology and bioresources of the Kara Sea. Kolskij nauchnyj tsentr AN SSSR, Apatity: 120–127. [In Russian].

Shneider G.V. 2021. History of the discovery and geological study of the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. Scientific works of the Federal State budgetary institution «United Directorate of the Taymyr Reserve», 1: 262–267. [In Russian].

Sideleva V.G., Neelov A.V., Voronina E.P. and Volkova G.A. 2006a. Catalog of the fish collection of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Class Bony fish (Osteichthyes). Order Scorpaeniformes. Suborder Cottoidei. Part 1. Explorations of the Fauna of the Seas, 57/65: 1–223. [In Russian].

Sideleva V.G., Neelov A.V., Voronina E.P. and Volkova G.A. 2006b. Catalog of the fish collection of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Class Bony fish (Osteichthyes). Order Scorpaeniformes. Suborder Cottoidei. Part 2. Explorations of the Fauna of the Seas, 57/65: 224–349. [In Russian].

Sirenko B.I., Vassilenko S.V. and Petryashov V.V. 2009. Distribution patterns for shelf species of Eurasian Arctic Seas. In: S.V. Vassilenko and V.V. Petryashov (Eds). Illustrated keys to free-living invertebrates of Eurasian Arctic seas and adjacent deep waters. Alaska Sea Grant, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1: 181–188.

Smirnova E.V. and Karamushko O.V. 2015. Spatial distribution and aspects of biology of black-bellied snailfish Liparis cf. fabricii Krøyer, 1847 in the KaraSea. Vestnik Kolskogo nauchnogo tsentra RAN, 1: 78–84. [In Russian]. https://docplayer.ru/56137891-Kolskogo-nauchnogo-centra-ran.html

Smirnova E.V., Karamushko O.V. and Chernova N.V. 2019. Species composition, distribution, and some biological aspects for fishes of the genus Lycodes (Zoarcidae) in the Laptev Sea in 2014. Journal of Ichthyology, 59(4): 488–498. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945219040167

Svenning M.-A., Klemetsen A. and Olsen T. 2007. Habitat and food choice of Arctic charr in Linnévatn on Spitsbergen, Svalbard: the first year-round investigation in a High Arctic lake. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 16: 70–77. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0633.2006.00183.x

Urvantsev N.N. 1935. Two years on Severnaya Zemlya. Glavsevmorput’, Leningrad, 362 p. [In Russian].

Ushakov G.A. 1951. On a land that has not been walked on. Glavsevmorput’, Moscow, Leningrad, 393 p. [In Russian].

Virketis M.A. 1943. Zooplankton of the B. Vilkitsky Strait as an indicator of the hydrological regime. Problemy Arktiki, 2: 83–118. [In Russian].

Wietrzyk-Pełka P. and Węgrzyn M.H. 2020. The first observation of Arctic char in glacial river of Austre Brøggerbreen (Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway). Polar Science, 24: 100529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polar.2020.100529

Yessipov W.K. [Esipov V.K.] 1933. Brief review of the Kara Sea. Arctica, 1: 169–186.

Yudanov I.G. 1976. Zoogeography of polar cod in the Arctic Ocean. Priroda i Khozyaistvo Severa, Murmanskoe Knizhnoe Izdatel’stvo, Murmansk, 4: 111–113. [In Russian].

Zyuganov V.V. 1991. A family of sticklebacks (Gasterosteidae) of the world fauna. Fauna of the USSR. New series. No. 137. Fishes. Vol. 5(1). Nauka, Leningrad, 261 p.