Untitled - Alaska Resources Library

Lycodes cortezianus (Gilbert, 1890). Bigfin Eelpout. To 49.3 cm (19.4 in) TL (Bali and Bond 1959). Prince
of Wales Island, southeastern Alaska (Allen and Smith 1988) to San Diego, southern California (Miller
and Lea 1972). Not documented from western Gulf of Alaska or Bering Sea (Mecklenburg et al. 2002).
Benthic, at depths of 61–1,158 m (200–3,799 ft) (min.: Weinberg et al. 2002; max.: Ramsey et al. 2002),
reported as shallow as 20 m (66 ft) (W. A. Palsson, pers. comm. to M. L.).
Lycodes diapterus Gilbert, 1892. Black Eelpout or Blackfin Eelpout. To 37.1 cm (14.6 in) TL (Toyoshima
1985). Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk to northern Bering Sea at Navarin Canyon, west to Attu Island
in Aleutian Islands and to San Diego, southern California (Allen and Smith 1988). Benthic, at depths of
13–1,300 m (42–4,265 ft) (min.: Eschmeyer and Herald 1983; max.: Allen and Smith 1988).
Lycodes eudipleurostictus Jensen, 1902. Doubleline Eelpout. To 44.5 cm (17.5 in) TL. Atlantic Arctic; one
record from Beaufort Sea north of Kaktovik, Alaska. Benthic, at depths of 25–975 m (82–3,199 ft). All
in Mecklenburg et al. (2002).
Lycodes japonicus Matsubara & Iwai, 1951. Japanese Eelpout. To 34.0 cm SL (Nalbant 1994). Sea of Japan
off Honshu in Toyama Bay and near Sado Island; one record from eastern North Pacific from Bering
Sea north of Near Islands (western Aleutian Islands), Alaska. Benthic, at depths of about 300–303 m
(984–994 ft). All in Mecklenburg et al. (2002).
*Lycodes jugoricus Knipowitsch, 1906. Shulupaoluk. To 40 cm (15.7 in) TL (Andriashev in Whitehead et al.
1986). White Sea east to Laptev Sea, New Siberian Islands (Andriashev 1954), and East Siberian Sea (mouth
of Kolyma River; Andriashev in Whitehead et al. 1986); Arctic Canada from eastern Beaufort Sea, Yukon
Territory (McAllister 1962) to Boothia Peninsula, Nunavut (Hunter et al. 1984). Not reported from Alaska
although likely occurs there. Reported but not confirmed from Chukchi Sea; see range note in Mecklenburg
et al. (2002:706). Benthic, at depths of 9–90 m (29–295 ft; Andriashev in Whitehead et al. 1986).
Lycodes mucosus Richardson, 1855. Lightcheek Eelpout or Saddled Eelpout. To 49 cm (19.3 in) TL
(Andriashev 1954); at 48.5 cm SL, UW 111520 was probably a bit more than 49 cm TL but the caudal
rays are broken off (C. W. M., unpubl. data). Russian Arctic to Gulf of Anadyr; Beaufort Sea off Canada
and Alaska to Bering Sea near Pribilof Islands (Mecklenburg et al. 2002). Benthic, at depths of 1.5–80 m
(5–262 ft) (min.: UW 41493; max.: Mecklenburg et al. 2002).
Lycodes pacificus Collett, 1879. Blackbelly Eelpout. To 46 cm (18 in) TL (Jordan and Evermann 1898). Aleutian
Islands and Gulf of Alaska (Mecklenburg et al. 2002) to Ensenada, northern Baja California (Miller and
Lea 1972). Benthic, at depths of 7–1,036 m (23–3,399 ft) (min.: SCCWRP; max.: Ramsey et al. 2002).
Lycodes palearis Gilbert, 1896. Wattled Eelpout. To 62.0 cm (24.4 in) TL (UW 28872, UW 28873). Okhotsk
Sea to Chukchi Sea, over the continental shelf in the Bering Sea and off the Aleutian Islands to Oregon
(Mecklenburg et al. 2002). Benthic, at depths of about 2 m (7 ft) or less to 925 m (3,035 ft) (min.: Miller
et al. 1977 and UW 978 [beach seine]; max.: Allen and Smith 1988), nearly always less than 200 m
(656 ft; Mecklenburg et al. 2002). Rarely recorded from very shallow water, L. palearis were caught in
about 3 m (9.8 ft) of water at low tide at Jackson Beach, San Juan Island, on two different days (A. P.
Summers, pers. comm. to M. L. and C. W. M.).
Lycodes polaris (Sabine, 1824). Canadian Eelpout or Polar Eelpout. To 24.5 cm (9.6 in) TL (Andriashev
1954). Nearly circumpolar along Arctic coasts; Beaufort and Chukchi seas to eastern Bering Sea between
Hall Island and St. Lawrence Island to western Bering Sea off Cape Olyutorskiy. Benthic, at depths of 5–
236 m (16–774 ft). All in Mecklenburg et al. (2002). The American Fisheries Society (Nelson et al. 2004)
calls this fish the Canadian Eelpout, but its range is nearly circumpolar and Canadian (e.g., McAllister
1990, Coad 1995) and Russian scientists (e.g., Sheiko and Fedorov 2000), as well as many U.S. scientists
(e.g., Mecklenburg et al. 2002), call it the Polar Eelpout. With the specific epithet polaris, it is logical and
less confusing to use the name Polar Eelpout.
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