DNA barcoding by sequencing a standard region of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) provides an accurate, rapid method for identifying different species. In this study, we provide a molecular taxonomic assessment of demersal fishes in the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea based on DNA barcoding, and a total of 123 mitochondrial COI partial fragments with a length of 652 bp were obtained. The consensus among all sequences was determined by alignment via a BLAST search in GenBank. Phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed based on neighbor-joining trees and barcoding gaps. The 39 species investigated in this analysis were distributed among 10 families. Five families within Scorpaeniformes including 19 species accounted for almost half of the species. The next largest group was Perciformes, with 9 species, followed by Pleuronectiformes and Gadiformes, with 5 species each, and the smallest number of species belonged to Rajiformes. At the family level, Cottidae was the largest family, followed by Zoarcidae, accounting for 8 species. The other eight families—Gadidae, Pleuronectidae, Psychrolutidae, Agonidae, Liparidae, Ammodytidae, Hexagrammidae, and Rajidae—accounted for a smaller proportion of species. In brief, our study shows that DNA barcodes are an effective tool for studying fish diversity and taxonomy in the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea. The contribution of DNA barcoding to identifying Arctic fish species may benefit further Arctic fish studies on biodiversity, biogeography and conservation in the future.

通过对细胞色素 c 氧化酶亚基 I (COI) 的标准区域进行测序，DNA 条形码为识别不同物种提供了一种准确、快速的方法。在这项研究中，我们基于DNA条形码对白令海和楚科奇海的底层鱼类进行了分子分类评估，共获得了123个长度为652 bp的线粒体COI部分片段。所有序列之间的一致性是通过 GenBank 中的 BLAST 搜索比对确定的。基于邻接树和条形码间隙重建系统发育关系。本次分析中调查的 39 个物种分布在 10 个科中。蝎形目5科19种，占了近半数。其次是鲈形目，有 9 种，其次是胸鳍目和鲱形目，各有 5 种，数量最少的属 Rajiformes。在科层面上，蟋蟀科是最大的科，其次是蛱蝶科，共有8种。其他 8 个科——鲟科、胸蚴科、蝾螈科、蝾螈科、鲟科、蝾螈科、六线虫科和鼠尾鱼科——占物种的比例较小。简而言之，我们的研究表明，DNA 条形码是研究白令海和楚科奇海鱼类多样性和分类学的有效工具。DNA 条形码对识别北极鱼类物种的贡献可能有利于未来北极鱼类在生物多样性、生物地理学和保护方面的进一步研究。其他 8 个科——鲟科、胸蚴科、蝾螈科、蝾螈科、鲟科、蝾螈科、六线虫科和鼠尾鱼科——占物种的比例较小。简而言之，我们的研究表明，DNA 条形码是研究白令海和楚科奇海鱼类多样性和分类学的有效工具。DNA 条形码对识别北极鱼类物种的贡献可能有利于未来北极鱼类在生物多样性、生物地理学和保护方面的进一步研究。其他 8 个科——鲟科、胸蚴科、蝾螈科、蝾螈科、鲟科、蝾螈科、六线虫科和鼠尾鱼科——占物种的比例较小。简而言之，我们的研究表明，DNA 条形码是研究白令海和楚科奇海鱼类多样性和分类学的有效工具。DNA 条形码对识别北极鱼类物种的贡献可能有利于未来北极鱼类在生物多样性、生物地理学和保护方面的进一步研究。