363 



296 



Fig. 152. Parathemisto (Parathemisto) pacifica Stebbing, fetmle 

 (after Bowman, 1960). 



297 



Notes: Remarkably close to P. japonica; most authors, commencing 

 with Barnard, have considered P. pacifica a synonym of the former. 

 However, Bowman studied in detail the fauna of the genus Parathemisto 

 in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean and showed that there are 

 constant, albeit insignificant, differences between these two species. In 

 those few regions where the areas of distribution overlap, the affinity 

 of the crustaceans to one or the other species can be adequately and 

 definitely established. 



Distribution: Sub-Arctic waters of the northern part of the Pacific 

 Ocean and the Bering Sea. Apparently, it is absent in the Sea of Japan. It 

 is not known whether P. pacifica penetrates into the Sea of Okhotsk and 

 how far. It mainly inhabits surfacial waters and only solitary specimens 

 are found deeper than 200 m (at least in the summer). The depth of 

 habitation of the population changes in different seasons: the crustaceans 

 live closer to the surface in summer than they do in winter. Sometimes 

 they form huge concentrations near the surface film of the water. 



