NOTES 
A Eurasian Alga in Alaska 1 
C. Peter McRoy 
Specimens of the brown alga Fucus inflatus 
f. latifrons Foslie were collected in Izembek 
Lagoon (55° N, 163°W) on the Bering Sea 
coast of the Alaska Peninsula; these were pre- 
served in the collections of the Department of 
Botany, University of Washington. Identifica- 
tion of the species was based on the description 
by Zinova (1953). This species has not pre- 
viously been reported from the west coast of 
North America (Dawson, 1961:398). Fucus 
inflatus occurs in the lower intertidal of the 
arctic seas of Siberia and Greenland and to 
about 55°N in the North Sea (Zinova, 1953). 
On the Pacific coast of Asia, F. inflatus extends 
from the Arctic to about 45 °N. The form 
latifrons, however, is known only from the 
White, Barents, and Norwegian seas; it has 
not been reported from the Pacific Ocean. 
Scagel (1963) examined the distribution of 
benthic algae in the northeast Pacific Ocean in 
relation to oceanographic conditions, and found 
that several species could be used as oceano- 
graphic indicators. This record from Izembek 
Lagoon presents a discontinuous distribution 
that is not readily explained by the circulation 
of the surface waters of the Bering Sea and 
North Pacific Ocean (Zenkevitch, 1963:818- 
827). 
The presence of a species requires its in- 
troduction as well as suitable conditions for 
growth. If the introduction of F. inflatus is a 
result of the circulation of surface waters, then, 
assuming favorable growth conditions, it should 
occur over a wide range of the Alaska coast. 
F. inflatus is a relatively conspicuous species. 
1 Contribution No. 32, Institute of Marine Science, 
University of Alaska, College, Alaska 99701. Manu- 
script received February 13, 1967. 
Since it has not been reported from other col- 
lections of Alaskan algae, it may not occur out- 
side of a limited area of the Bering Sea coast. 
Several mechanisms for the introduction of 
this algae into Izembek Lagoon can be con- 
ceived. The most interesting is the possible 
introduction by the several hundred thousand 
Stellar’s Eiders ( Polysticta stellari ) that an- 
nually migrate between the arctic coast of Si- 
beria and Izembek Lagoon (Jones, 1965). 
Future collections on both sides of the Alaska 
Peninsula should provide further evidence. 
The assistance of Dr. R. E. Norris, Depart- 
ment of Botany, University of Washington, and 
Mr. R. D. Jones, Jr., Aleutian Islands National 
Wildlife Refuge, is gratefully acknowledged. 
REFERENCES 
Dawson, E. Y. 1961. A guide to the literature 
and distributions of Pacific benthic algae 
from Alaska to the Galapagos Islands. Pa- 
cific Sci. 15(3) :370-46l. 
Jones, R. D. Jr. 1965. Returns from Stellar’s 
Eiders banded in Izembek Bay, Alaska. Wild- 
fowl Trust, 16th Ann. Rept., pp. 83-85. 
Scagel, R. F. 1963. Distribution of attached 
marine algae in relation to oceanographic 
conditions in the northeast Pacific, pp. 37- 
50. In: M. J. Dunbar, Marine Distributions. 
Univ. Toronto Press, Toronto. 
Zenkevitch, L. 1963. Biology of the Seas of 
the U.S.S.R. Interscience Publishers, New 
York. 955 pp. 
Zinova, A. 1953. Keys to the Phaeophyta of 
the Northern Seas of the U.S.S.R. [In Rus- 
sian.] Akad. Nauk USSR. 224 pp. 
138 
