Pighead prickleback COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 11
Summary of Status Report
Globally, pighead pricklebacks are known in three areas: 1) Sea of Okhotsk and Sea of Japan; 2) Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska; and 3) the Beaufort Sea of Canada. Estimates of trends for the Canadian population are not available. The most relevant sampling is in Tuktoyaktuk Harbour. Here, population numbers are suggested to be 2,160 fish, but could reach 16,000 depending on the evenness of distribution and the extent of occurrence within the sampling sites. Potentially localized distribution, isolation from non-Canadian populations, dredging of harbours, long-term habitat issues of global warming (i.e., loss of nearby permafrost ice within pingos and beneath tundra eroding shorelines), potential accidents of the oil industry, together suggest potential vulnerability for pighead populations; however, appropriate data are still lacking.
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