On the capture of whiting Merlangius merlangus (Gadiformes: Gadidae) in the White Sea

Abstract

In connection with climate warming in recent years, it has been reported about the "borealization" or "atlantization" of the Barents Sea region. Along with other manifestations of this process, heat-loving migrants, which are not typical for these waters, are increasingly being observed in the Barents Sea. Thus, whiting Merlangius merlangus (Linnaeus, 1758) began to occasionally occur along the coast of Murman, the main range of which is in the North Sea. The article presents data on the captures of whiting in the White Sea, where this species was not previously known. The specimens were caught in September 2013 and in August 2017 in the Kandalaksha Bay (Chupa Bay near the Cape Kartezh, area of the biological station of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, ca. 66°20.23’N; 33°38.97’E). The characters that distinguish it from other codfish species of the White Sea are listed; information is given about its rare captures in the Barents Sea region. Naturalization of whiting in these waters, apparently, does not occur; for it, this marginal area of the range is a zone of sterile expatriation.