Ecological and zoogeographic characterization of the ichthyofauna of Sivuch’ya Bay (Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan)

An inventory of the ichthyofauna of Sivuch’ya Bay (Far Eastern State Marine Biosphere Reserve) was made for the first time. Based on the results of our research (during all seasons of 1994–2004), the list of Sivuchya Bay fishes includes 108 species belonging to 15 orders, 45 families, and 84 genera. The greatest number of taxa was found for the orders Perciformes (17 families, 33 genera, and 40 species) and Scorpaeniformes (8, 18, and 28, respectively). The following families dominate in terms of the number of species: Stichaeidae, 15 species; Cottidae, 11; Pleuronectidae, 9; Gobiidae, 5; Hexagrammidae, 5; Clupeidae, 4; and Tetraodontidae, 4. These seven families include 53 species (49.1%). The data, confirmed by the results of regression analysis, show that the bay ichthyofauna is well studied. Zoogeographical analysis indicates that the bulk of ichthyofauna is constituted by fishes of Asian origin (low boreal, low boreal-subtropical and widely distributed boreal), 80 species (74.1%). Bottom and near-bottom fishes are dominating elements of the Sivuch’ya Bay ichthyofauna, with 83 species (76.9%); pelagic fishes 25 species make up (23.1%).