Clarification of the Lycodes diapterus Species Complex (Perciformes: Zoarcidae), with Comments on the Subgenus Furcimanus

Lycodes diapterus, the type species of Furcimanus, has been divided into as many as three subspecies (L. diapterus diapterus, L. d. beringi, and L. d. nakamurae). Although L. d. nakamurae has been broadly recognized as a distinct species by recent authors, the status of L. d. beringi is unresolved, and several authors have noted the need for a comprehensive morphological study of L. diapterus. Based on an examination of nearly 500 specimens collected from Kamchatka to California, we herein recognize Lycodes beringi as a valid species distinguished from L. diapterus by meristics and squamation. Lycodes beringi is distributed from southeastern Kamchatka through the Bering Sea, Commander and Aleutian Islands, Gulf of Alaska, and south along the North American west coast to Puget Sound, while L. diapterus ranges from the Pacific coast of Vancouver Island south along the U.S. west coast to southern California. In this report we document the morphological variation present in L. diapterus and L. beringi and designate a lectotype for L. beringi. We also provide diagnoses, descriptions, and distribution information for both forms, and compare them with closely related congeners, providing comments on the subgenus Furcimanus.

Fig. 1

Photograph of preserved specimens of (A) Lycodes diapterus (UW 117216, 202 mm SL) and (B) L. beringi (HUMZ 88958, 221 mm SL).

Fig. 2

Distribution of Lycodes diapterus (open circles) and L. beringi (closed circles), based on material examined for this study. Stars indicate lectotype localities; question marks indicate records with dubious locality data. Depth contour = 200 m.

Fig. 3

Diagram showing the typical extent of predorsal squamation in (A) Lycodes diapterus and (B) L. beringi.

Fig. 4

Lycodes beringi, UW 114456 (203–245 mm SL), from the Gulf of Alaska, before preservation.

Fig. 5

Plots of standard principal component (PC) scores for meristic and morphometric characters for Lycodes diapterus (open circles) and L. beringi (closed squares): (A) meristic characters only, (B) morphometric characters only, and (C) morphometric (PC2) versus meristic (PC1) characters.

Contributor Notes

Associate Editor: D. Buth.

¹ National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, Washington 98115; E-mail: duane.stevenson@noaa.gov. Send reprint requests to this address.

² Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya embankment 1, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia; E-mail: bsheiko@mail.ru.

Received: 21 Apr 2008

Accepted: 23 Sept 2008