NOAA Professional Paper NMFS 18 Fishes of the Salish Sea: a compilation and distributional analysis Theodore W. Pietsch James W. Orr September 2015 U.S. Department of Commerce NOAA Professional Penny Pritzker Secretary of Commerce Papers NMFS National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Kathryn D. Sullivan Scientifi c Editor Administrator Richard Langton National Marine Fisheries Service National Marine Northeast Fisheries Science Center Fisheries Service Maine Field Station Eileen Sobeck 17 Godfrey Drive, Suite 1 Assistant Administrator Orono, Maine 04473 for Fisheries Associate Editor Kathryn Dennis National Marine Fisheries Service Offi ce of Science and Technology Fisheries Research and Monitoring Division 1845 Wasp Blvd., Bldg. 178 Honolulu, Hawaii 96818 Managing Editor Shelley Arenas National Marine Fisheries Service Scientifi c Publications Offi ce 7600 Sand Point Way NE Seattle, Washington 98115 Editorial Committee Ann C. Matarese National Marine Fisheries Service James W. Orr National Marine Fisheries Service - The NOAA Professional Paper NMFS (ISSN 1931-4590) series is published by the Scientifi c Publications Offi ce, National Marine Fisheries Service, The NOAA Professional Paper NMFS series carries peer-reviewed, lengthy original NOAA, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, research reports, taxonomic keys, species synopses, fl ora and fauna studies, and data- Seattle, WA 98115. intensive reports on investigations in fi shery science, engineering, and economics. The Secretary of Commerce has Copies of the NOAA Professional Paper NMFS series are available free in limited determined that the publication of numbers to government agencies, both federal and state. They are also available in this series is necessary in the transac- exchange for other scientifi c and technical publications in the marine sciences. Profes- tion of the public business required by law of this Department. 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CONTENTS Introduction . 1 Methods . 4 Species accounts . 12 Comments . 72 Acknowledgments . 73 Literature cited . 73 Index to scientifi c and common names . 96 iii 1 Abstract—As part of a current Fishes of the Salish Sea: a compilation and effort to restore the Salish Sea, a 16,925-km2 inland waterway shared distributional analysis by Washington State and British Co- lumbia, a definitive, up-to-date list 1 of the fishes that inhabit this marine Theodore W. Pietsch (contact author) ecosystem has been badly needed. James W. Orr2 The last such effort was published more than three decades ago. In re- Email address for contact author: [email protected] sponse to this deficiency, we com- piled information from various 1 School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and sources and identified 253 fish spe- Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture cies observed in marine or brackish University of Washington waters of the Salish Sea ecosystem, 1122 NE Boat Street an increase of nearly 14% since the Seattle, Washington 98105-5020 last published checklist. These 253 2 Alaska Fisheries Science Center species, encompassing 1 myxinid, 2 National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA petromyzontids, 18 chondrichthyans, 7600 Sand Point Way NE 2 chondrosteans, and 230 teleosts, Seattle, Washington 98115 are contained within 78 families and 31 orders. This comprehensive list of the Salish Sea ichthyofauna will serve as a foundation for deter- mining the occurrence of new spe- cies and perhaps the disappearance Introduction 1988 by marine biologist Bert Webber of others, enabling the selection of of Bellingham, Washington. He recog- species as indicators of ecosystem The Salish Sea, a fitting name for the nized the need for a single geographic health, and will provide a basis for identifying the mechanisms respon- inland marine waters of Washing- term to encompass the entire eco- sible for marine animal declines. ton State and British Columbia, is a system, spanning across the interna- coastal waterway that surrounds the tional border of the United States and southern end of Vancouver Island, Canada. Having a name to identify including the Strait of Georgia to the the entire area draws attention to the north, with Desolation Sound and the transborder commonality of water, Campbell River at its northern ex- air, wildlife, and history. Rather than tremity (Fig. 1), and Puget Sound to a replacement for any of the existing the south, terminating at the mouth names, the designation Salish Sea, as of the Deschutes River and the city now recognized, is a collective term of Olympia at the head of Budd In- that unites the well-established and let (Fig. 2). Its western boundary is familiar names of the various water the entrance to the Strait of Juan de and land bodies of the region, includ- Fuca, defined as a line between Cape ing the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Strait Flattery and Carmanah Point. In ad- of Georgia, Puget Sound, Gulf Islands, dition to the San Juan Islands, Gulf San Juan Islands, and many others. Islands, and southern margin of the In August 2009, the British Co- Discovery Islands, the watershed con- lumbia Geographical Names Office tains the lower Fraser River Delta and approved a resolution recommending the Puget Lowlands as well as Hood that the Geographical Names Board Canal, the Tacoma Narrows, and De- of Canada adopt the name Salish ception Pass. Sea, contingent on approval by the In recognition and tribute to the United States Board on Geographic Salish people, with whom virtually Names. The name was endorsed by all the indigenous tribes around Puget the Washington State Board on Geo- Sound and the straits of Georgia and graphic Names in late October 2009. Juan de Fuca have links and probably It was approved in a unanimous vote a common origin, the name Salish Sea by the United States Board on Geo- was coined only in the late 20th cen- graphic Names on 12 November 2009 tury. It was first formally proposed in and by British Columbia authorities 2 Professional Paper NMFS 18 Figure 1 Northern part of the Salish Sea: the Strait of Juan de Fuca, defined as a line between Cape Flattery on the Washington coast and Carmanah Point on Vancouver Island to the western shore of the northern part of Whidbey Island; the San Juan Archipelago, made up of the roughly circular cluster of islands that separate the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca from the Strait of Caption continued 3 Figure 2 Southern part of the Salish Sea: Puget Sound, partially separated from the Strait of Juan de Fuca by Whidbey Island and extend- ing south from Similk Bay and the entrance to Admiralty Inlet, along a line between Fort Ebey State Park and Port Townsend, to Budd Inlet and Olympia, including Hood Canal. After DeLacy et al., 1972; courtesy of Robyn Ricks, Washington Sea Grant, used with permission. Figure 1 (continued) Georgia; Bellingham, the partially enclosed area that lies east of Lummi, Cypress, and Guemes islands and including Bellingham, Samish, and Padilla bays; and the Strait of Georgia, including the Gulf Islands and everything else north of the San Juan Archi- pelago to Desolation Sound (but excluding the narrow waterways in and around the Discovery Islands in the passage between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia; further division of the Strait of Georgia between north and south is set roughly along a line between Departure Bay and Burrard Inlet). After Waldichuk, 1957; courtesy of Eileen Evans-Nantais, Canadian Sci- ence Publishing, used with permission. 4 Professional Paper NMFS 18 in February 2010. The name is now officially accepted stoutii, Triakis semifasciata, Bathyraja interrupta, Raja internationally. inornata, Cyprinus carpio, Leuroglossus schmidti, Spirin- Covering 16,925 km2 (6533 mi2) of sea surface and chus starksi, Salmo salar, Salvelinus confluentus, Argyro- 7470 km (4639 mi) of shoreline—including some 419 pelecus sladeni, Chauliodus macouni, Nannobrachium re- islands that provide a total land area of 3660 km2 (1413 gale, Protomyctophum crockeri, Protomyctophum thomp- mi2)—and with a maximum depth of 650 m (2132 ft), the soni, Lampris guttatus, Chilara taylori, Sebastes semicinc- Salish Sea and surrounding lowlands provide habitat for tus, Cottus aleuticus, Cottus asper, Icelinus fimbriatus, thousands of species of plants and animals, but exactly Paricelinus hopliticus, Stellerina xyosterna, Xeneretmus how many species is yet to be determined.