Distribution and some features of biology of representatives of the genus Lycodes in the western part of the Bering Sea in the summer period

Based on materials of bottom inventory trawl survey performed in summer 2008 in the western part of the Bering Sea, we show that representatives of the genus Lycodes in the summer period occur almost throughout the study water area of the sea from the sublittoral to the drop-off. The pattern of distribution and abundance of particular species depend on the depth and specific features of the hydrological regime of the given area. The most numerous species—Lycodes brevipes and L. palearis—are found in warm intermediate and in cold demersal water masses, are distributed over a vast stretch, and there form considerable concentrations. Deep-water species—L. beringi and L. concolor—are more stenothermal, occur along the narrow band of the continental slope, and are considerably inferior to stretch species in numbers. Of shallow species dwelling at depths smaller than 100 m, only L. raridens has high numbers and occurs over a considerable area in the northern part of the study area, the remaining species (L. mucosus, L. polaris, and L. turneri) are caught in small amounts at local sites. The largest sizes are in L. raridens and L. concolor, their maximum length in catches is more than 70 cm, the former species reaches maximum length in the seventh year of life, and the latter reaches maximum length in the ninth year. The smallest and slowest-growing among the studied fish is L. brevipes: its maximum length in catches does not exceed 39 cm and maximum age is 7 years.