Common Fish on the North Slope

Whitefishes

• Arctic Cisco
• Bering Cisco
• Broad Whitefish
• Humpback Whitefish
• Least Cisco
• Round Whitefish
• Sheefish or Inconnu

Char

• Arctic Char
• Dolly Varden Char
• Lake Trout

Pacific Salmon

• Chinook Salmon or King Salmon
• Chum Salmon or Dog Salmon
• Pink Salmon or Humpback Salmon
• Red Salmon or Sockeye Salmon

Other Freshwater Fishes

• Alaska Blackfish
• Arctic Grayling
• Arctic Lamprey
• Burbot
• Longnose Sucker
• Ninespine Stickleback
• Northern Pike
• Threespine Stickleback
• Slimy Sculpin

Nearshore Marine/Brackish Water Fishes

• Arctic Cod
• Saffron Cod
• Capelin
• Arctic Flounder
• Starry Flounder
• Fourhorn Sculpin
• Pacific Herring
• Rainbow Smelt

Some Uncommon Marine Fishes

• Bering Wolffish
• Eelpout
• Leather-fin Lumpsucker
• Pacific Sand Lance
• Pacific Sleeper Shark
• Slender Eelblenny
• Snailfish
• Wolf Eel

Whitefishes

Arctic Cisco

Iñupiaq Name: Qaaktaq
Scientific Name: Coregonus autumnalis

Taken by Larry Moulton

Bering Cisco

Iñupiaq Name: Tiipuq
Scientific Name: Coregonus laurettae

Taken by DWM staff

Broad Whitefish

Iñupiaq Name: Aanaakłiq
Scientific Name: Coregonus nasus

Taken by Craig George

Humpback Whitefish

Iñupiaq Name: Pikuktuuq
Scientific Name: Coregonus pidschian

Taken by Craig George

Least Cisco

Iñupiaq Name: Iqalusaaq
Scientific Name: Coregonus sardinella

Taken by Craig George

Taken by ACES/NOAA/NMFS

Round Whitefish

Iñupiaq Name: Saviġuunnaq
Scientific Name: Prosopium cylindraceum

Sheefish or Inconnu

Iñupiaq Name: Siiġruaq, Sii
Scientific Name: Stenodu leucichthys

Taken by Emma Snyder in Kotzebue

Char

Dolly Varden Char

Iñupiaq Name: Iqalukpik
Scientific Name: Salvelinus malma

Taken by Craig George

Arctic Char

Iñupiaq Name: Iqalukpik, Paikłuk, Aŋayuqaksraq
Scientific Name: Salvelinus alpinus

Taken by Larry Moulton

Taken by DWM Staff near Kaktovik

Taken by DWM staff

Lake Trout

Iñupiaq Name: Iqaluaqpak
Scientific Name: Salvelinus namaychush

Taken by Craig George

Taken by Craig George

Pacific Salmon

Chum or Dog Salmon

Iñupiaq Name: Iqalugruaq, Qalugruaq
Scientific Name: Oncorhynchus keta

Taken by DWM staff

Chinook or King Salmon

Iñupiaq Name: Iqalugruaq, Iqalukpak, Taġyaqpak
Scientific Name: Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

Taken by Craig George

Taken by Craig George

Taken by DWM staff

Red or Sockeye Salmon

Iñupiaq Name:
Scientific Name: Oncorhynchus nerka

Taken by DWM staff

Pink or Humpback Salmon

Iñupiaq Name: Amaqtuuq
Scientific Name: Oncorhynchus gorbuscha

Taken by Leslie Pierce

Taken by Laird

Other Freshwater Fishes

Arctic Lamprey

Iñupiaq Name: Nimiġiaq
Scientific Name: Lampetra japonica

Taken by Larry Moulton

Arctic Grayling

Iñupiaq Name: Sulukpaugaq
Scientific Name: Thymallus arcticus

Taken by DWM staff

Burbot

Iñupiaq Name: Tittaaliq
Scientific Name: Lota lota

Taken by Craig George

Taken by Josh Bacon at Atqasuk

Longnose Sucker

Iñupiaq Name: Milugiaq
Scientific Name: Catostomus catostomus

Taken by DWM staff (this fish has a spinal deformity)

Northern Pike

Iñupiaq Name: Siulik, Siułik
Scientific Name: Esox lucius

Taken by DWM staff

Taken by Larry Moulton

By Leslie Pierce with Jeremiah Lambrecht

Alaska Blackfish

Iñupiaq Name: Iłuuqiñiq
Scientific Name: Dallia pectoralis

Taken by Larry Moulton

Threespine Stickleback

Iñupiaq Name: Kakiḷaġnaq, Kakiḷasak, Kakalisauraq
Scientific Name: Gasterosteus aculeatus

Taken by Craig George

Ninespine Stickleback

Iñupiaq Name: Kakalisauraq
Scientific Name: Pungitius pungitius

Taken by Raphaela Stimmelmayr

Slimy Sculpin

Iñupiaq Name: Kanayuq
Scientific Name: Cottus cognatus

Nearshore Marine/Brackish Water Fishes

Rainbow Smelt

Iñupiaq Name: Iłhuaġniq
Scientific Name: Osmerus mordax

Taken by DWM staff

Arctic Cod

Iñupiaq Name: Iqalugaq
Scientific Name: Boreogadus saida

Taken by Leslie Pierce

Taken by Craig George

Saffron Cod

Iñupiaq Name: Uugaq
Scientific Name: Eleginus gracilis

Taken by ACES/NOAA/NMFS (juvenile)

Taken by ACES/NOAA/NMFS (adult)

Arctic Flounder

Iñupiaq Name: Nataaġnaq
Scientific Name: Liopsetta glacialis

Taken by Teresa Aiken

Taken by DWM staff

Starry Flounder

Iñupiaq Name: Nataaġnaq
Scientific Name: Platichthys stellatus

Taken by Craig George

Capelin

Iñupiaq Name: Paŋmaksraq, Paŋmagrak, Paŋmaġraq
Scientific Name: Mallotus villosus

Taken by Craig George

Fourhorn Sculpin

Iñupiaq Name: Kanayuq
Scientific Name: Myoxocephalus quadricornis

Taken by Cyd Hanns

Taken by ACES/NOAA/NMFS

Pacific Herring

Iñupiaq Name: Uqsruqtuuq
Scientific Name: Clupea pallasii

Taken by DWM staff

Some Uncommon Marine Fishes

Slender Eelblenny

Iñupiaq Name:
Scientific Name: Lumpenus fabricii

Taken by ACES/NOAA/NMFS (juvenile)

Taken by ACES/NOAA/NMFS (adult)

Eelpout

Iñupiaq Name:
Scientific Name: Lycodes spp

Taken by DWM staff

Taken by DWM staff

Bering Wolffish

Iñupiaq Name:
Scientific Name: Anarhichas orientalis

Taken by DWM staff

Taken by George Divoky

Taken by Craig George. Fish found on beach near Barrow by Masaak Brower

Wolf Eel

Iñupiaq Name:
Scientific Name: Anarrhichthys occellatus

Taken by ACES/NOAA/NMFS

Snailfish

Iñupiaq Name:
Scientific Name: Liparis tunicatus, L. megacephalus

Taken by DWM staff

Taken by DWM staff

Leather-Fin Lumpsucker

Iñupiaq Name:
Scientific Name: Eumicrotremus deerjugini

Pacific Sand Lance

Iñupiaq Name:
Scientific Name: Ammodytes hexapterus

Taken by DWM staff

Arctic Skate

Iñupiaq Name:
Scientific Name: Amblyraja hyperborea

Taken by Craig George

Taken by Craig George

Pacific Sleeper Shark

Iñupiaq Name:
Scientific Name: Somniosus pacificus

Links

• More information on Fish Identification on the North Slope

Banner photo credit: Arctic Char near Kaktovik by DWM Staff