Facts about Banded Gunnel (Pholis fasciata)

The only species of gunnel in the Arctic Ocean

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Bright reddish orange to greenish yellow with sinuous reddish black bands reaching the ventral surface, white blotches along the back and dorsal fin containing black spots; An olive green band bordered with black from top of head through eye and down cheek followed by a white band with fine black border; Body strongly compressed; Head pores conspicuous; interorbital pore absent; Pectoral fins small (less than 50% of head length), fan-shaped; Pelvic fins tiny, occasionally absent

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Biology

Entirely subtidal (Ref. 48978). Benthic; feeds on crustaceans and worms (Ref. 58426).

Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray 1986 A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251) http://www.fishbase.org/references/FBRefSummary.php?id=7251&speccode=942

Source: FishBase

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Distribution

Arctic to Bay of Fundy

North-West Atlantic Ocean species (NWARMS) http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=sourcedetails&id=2901

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Distribution

Canadian Exclusive Economic Zone [Arctic part], Gulf of Maine, Gulf of St. Lawrence, North West Atlantic

North-West Atlantic Ocean species (NWARMS) http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=sourcedetails&id=2901
Nozères C., Archambault D., Chouinard P.-M., Gauthier J., Miller R., Parent E., Schwab P., Savard L., and Dutil J.-D. 2010. Identification guide for marine fishes of the estuary and northern Gulf of St. Lawrence and sampling protocols used during trawl surveys between 2004 and 2008. Can. Tech. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2866: xi + 243 p http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=sourcedetails&id=145051
Miller, Roberta. 2011. The St. Anne de Bellevue Arctic Biological Station Collection In Museum collection database, Fisheries and Oceans Canada digital collections, Maurice Lamontagne Institute, Quebec http://www.marinespecies.org/asteroidea/aphia.php?p=sourcedetails&id=150285

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Western Atlantic: Arctic Ocean to southern Labrador, Canada and western Greenland. North Pacific: Japan (Ref. 559) and Alaska (Ref. 11366).

Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray 1986 A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251) http://www.fishbase.org/references/FBRefSummary.php?id=7251&speccode=942

Source: FishBase

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Morphology

Dorsal spines (total): 8083; Analspines: 2; Analsoft rays: 38 - 42; Vertebrae: 87 - 90

Masuda, H., K. Amaoka, C. Araga, T. Uyeno and T. Yoshino 1984 The fishes of the Japanese Archipelago. Vol. 1. Tokai University Press, Tokyo, Japan. 437 p. (text). (Ref. 559) http://www.fishbase.org/references/FBRefSummary.php?id=559&speccode=7

Source: FishBase

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Size

Maximum size: 300 mm TL

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Source: FishWise Professional

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Max. size

30.0 cm TL (male/unsexed; (Ref. 7251))

Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray 1986 A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251) http://www.fishbase.org/references/FBRefSummary.php?id=7251&speccode=942

Source: FishBase

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Type Information

Type for Pholis gilli Evermann & Goldsborough
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Fishes
Preparation: Illustration
Collector(s): E. Clark
Year Collected: 1902
Locality: Bering Sea, Russia, Pacific

Type: Evermann, B. W. & Goldsborough, E. L. 1907. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Fisheries. 26 (for 1906): 337, fig. 110.

Source: National Museum of Natural History Image Collection

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Habitat

Inshore species, found at depths of 30- 40 m on or near bottom in cold waters.

North-West Atlantic Ocean species (NWARMS) http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=sourcedetails&id=2901

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Habitat

benthic

North-West Atlantic Ocean species (NWARMS) http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=sourcedetails&id=2901

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Depth range based on 12 specimens in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 7 samples.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 5.9 - 167.5
  Temperature range (°C): -1.199 - 10.205
  Nitrate (umol/L): 2.974 - 14.206
  Salinity (PPS): 32.522 - 34.030
  Oxygen (ml/l): 5.092 - 8.585
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.469 - 1.200
  Silicate (umol/l): 3.154 - 23.498

Graphical representation

Depth range (m): 5.9 - 167.5

Temperature range (°C): -1.199 - 10.205

Nitrate (umol/L): 2.974 - 14.206

Salinity (PPS): 32.522 - 34.030

Oxygen (ml/l): 5.092 - 8.585

Phosphate (umol/l): 0.469 - 1.200

Silicate (umol/l): 3.154 - 23.498

Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.

Public Domain

Source: Ocean Biogeographic Information System

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Depth: 30 - 40m.
From 30 to 40 meters.

Habitat: demersal.

Source: FishWise Professional

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Arctic-subarctic; Benthic, on sand, broken shell, gravel, and rock substrate; Shallow subtidal to 94 m, < 50 m in the Arctic and typically shallower than 20 m; Near-bottom temperatures of 5°C (off Newfoundland) to 10.5°C (Bering Strait) reported

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Environment

demersal; marine; depth range 0 - 94 m (Ref. 50550), usually 30 - 46 m (Ref. 48978)

Fedorov, V.V., I.A. Chereshnev, M.V. Nazarkin, A.V. Shestakov and V.V. Volobuev 2003 Catalog of marine and freswater fishes of the northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk. Vladivostok: Dalnauka, 2003. 204 p. (Ref. 50550) http://www.fishbase.org/references/FBRefSummary.php?id=50550&speccode=4633
Mecklenburg, C.W. 2003 Family Pholidae Gill 1893 - gunnels. Calif. Acad. Sci. Annotated Checklists of Fishes (9):11. (Ref. 48978) http://www.fishbase.org/references/FBRefSummary.php?id=48978&speccode=23799

Source: FishBase

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Trophic Strategy

Entirely subtidal (Ref. 48978). Benthic; feeds on crustaceans and worms (Ref. 58426). Preyed upon by cottids, Arctic cod and other fishes (Ref. 5951).

Source: FishBase

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Lives on small crustaceans; Eaten by sculpins, cods (e.g., Gadus ogac), other bottom fishes, and seabirds

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Life Cycle

Not reported; Presumably, like Pholis gunnellus, deposits eggs inside empty bivalve shells and guards them by coiling around the egg clump

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Molecular Biology

Barcode data: Pholis fasciata

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

There are 5 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank. Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species. See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.

DSFAL651-09|RUSALCA09-167|Pholis fasciata| ------------------------------------------CTTTATCTAGTATTTGGTGCATGAGCCGGAATAGTGGGCACAGCTCTA---AGCCTCCTCATTCGAGCAGAGTTAAGCCAGCCCGGCGCCCTACTAGGCGAC---GACCAAATTTATAATGTAATTGTTACAGCACATGCATTCGTAATAATTTTCTTTATAGTAATACCAATCATGATCGGGGGCTTCGGAAACTGACTTATTCCCCTAATG---ATCGGGGCCCCAGACATGGCGTTTCCCCGTATAAATAACATGAGTTTTTGGCTTCTCCCCCCTTCTTTCCTCCTCCTCCTTGCCTCTTCTGGGGTTGAGGCGGGAGCTGGTACAGGATGGACGGTATACCCGCCCCTTTCTGGTAATTTAGCGCACGCCGGGGCCTCTGTTGATTTA---ACAATCTTTTCTCTTCACCTGGCGGGGATTTCTTCAATTCTTGGGGCAATTAATTTTATCACAACCATTATTAACATAAAACCCCCTGCCATTTCTCAGTACCAGACACCGCTCTTCGTTTGATCCGTACTCATCACCGCCGTTCTTCTGCTCCTTTCACTCCCCGTGCTTGCAGCC---GGGATTACTATACTCCTAACAGATCGTAATCTAAACACTACCTTTTTTGATCCCGCAGGAGGGGGTGACCCAATTCTTTACCAA-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- end --

Download FASTA File

Source: Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)

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Statistics of barcoding coverage: Pholis fasciata

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 5
Species: 5
Species With Barcodes: 1

Source: Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)

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Threats

Not Evaluated

IUCN 2006 2006 IUCN red list of threatened species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded July 2006. http://www.fishbase.org/references/FBRefSummary.php?id=57073

Source: FishBase

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Banded gunnel

The Banded Gunnel is the only species of gunnel that lives in the Arctic Ocean. Very little is known about its life cycle or reproduction.

Physical characteristics

The Banded Gunnel reaches about 12 inches (30 cm) long and has a elongated body, somewhat like an eel. Its dorsal fin has small spikes and its skin is covered in tiny scales. Its color ranges from a bright reddish orange to greenish yellow. It has thin, dark red bands reaching across its belly, and white blotches with black spots on its back and dorsal fin. An olive-green and black stripe extends down from the top of the head down through the eyes and down the cheeks. The pectoral fins small (less than half the length of the head), and are fan-shaped. The pelvic fins are either tiny or absent.

Habitat

The Banded Gunnel lives in arctic and subarctic waters in the Arctic Ocean, near Southern Labrador and Western Greenland, and in the North Pacific Ocean. It lives in the benthic zone, in sand, broken shells, and gravel. The temperature of the water usually ranges from 5-10 degrees Celsius.

Behavior

Diet

The Banded Gunnel feeds on small crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters, and shrimp.

Predators

The Banded Gunnel is fed upon by sculpins, cods, and occasionally sea birds.

References

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Source: Wikipedia

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