Pighead prickleback COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 9

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Special Significance of the Species

The Canadian population of pighead pricklebacks represents the easternmost known occurrence of the species. The Canadian population may also be isolated from the populations known in the Bering Sea. There is little movement of water from the Bering Sea as far as the Mackenzie estuary due to the complex current patterns off the Mackenzie and Yukon rivers (Macdonald et al. 1989). This may result in restricted or little gene flow from the closest known Alaskan population in the Chukchi Sea (1200 km west of Philips Bay, Yukon Coast). This potential isolation of the Canadian population requires further clarification.

Pighead pricklebacks are consumers of bottom invertebrates and contribute to the local ecological food chain. They were ranked 5 thin abundance among the fish species caught at Tuktoyaktuk Harbor suggesting that they may be significant contributors to the food web.