Distribution and habitat conditions of walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma at southern Kuril Islands

Data on spatial distribution and habitat conditions are presented for walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma at southern Kuril Islands in spawning season (spring 2015) and feeding season (summer 2016). In spring, walleye pollock are distributed over the entire shelf and continental slope down to 900 m depth and occupy the upper layer on the shelf and intermediate layer at the slope with water temperature 0.1–1.5 o C. In summer, they aggregate at the depth of 200–270 m beyond the shelf in the intermediate water at the Pacific slope of Iturup Island, under the temperature of 1.3–2.9 o C. Both spatial and bathymetric migrations of pollock are minimal at the Pacific side of Iturup, but they migrate for spawning westward and southwestward to the Okhotsk Sea and slope of Small Kuril Ridge where concentrate at the benthic front between the tidal mixing zone and the Intermediate water. Seasonal redistribution of walleye pollock is accompanied with changes of size-age structure in the main aggregations.

Some of test results of the “Aldofix” in fixing the phytoplankton on the example of eggs of walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma

Data about new conservant “Aldofix” to fix ichthyoplankton are demonstrated. Series of experiments on the conservation of ichthyoplankton and eggs of walleye pollock were carried out with the use of “Aldofix” and its modernized solutions. External view, including color of the eggs, as a result of fixing in different solutions was described, and difference in the egg diameter was noted in case of fixing in formalin and “Aldofix”. It is concluded, that “Aldofix” (example № 1) was the most convinient fixing solution to preserve ichthyoplankton.