Occurrence of threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in the open North Pacific Ocean: migration or drift?

Authors:
  • TQT. P. Quinn
    T. P. Quinn
  • JLJ. T. Light
    J. T. Light
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Abstract
This paper documents the occurrence of a small fish species, the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), in the open North Pacific Ocean. Sticklebacks were incidentally caught in 77 of 4138 (1.86%) purse seine sets for Pacific salmon and were found in the stomachs of 31 of 639 (4.85%) steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri) caught on the high seas. If destined to reproduce, these pelagic sticklebacks would be an exception to the general rule that long distance migration is undertaken only by large fish species, but it is also possible that they were isolated from breeding populations.