Mottled sculpin (Cottus bairdii)

Scientific name: Cottus bairdii Girard, 1850

Mottled sculpin (Cottus bairdii)

The Mottled sculpin (Cottus bairdii) is a freshwater fish of the family Cottidae.

Biology

Adults occur in rubble and gravel riffles, less often in sand-gravel runs of headwaters, creeks and small rivers. Also found in springs and their effluents and rocky shores of lakes. Feed mainly on aquatic insect larvae, but also on crustaceans, annelids, fishes, fish eggs, and plant material. Spawn in the spring. A male guards the cluster of eggs laid by different females. Neither anterolateral glandular groove nor venom gland is present.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Cottus bairdii
Family
Cottidae (Sculpins)
Order
Scorpaeniformes (Scorpionfishes and Flatheads)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
15.0
Common length
8.4
Depth range
16 m (52 ft)
Environment
Freshwater; demersal; depth range ? - 16 m
Climate
Temperate
Distribution
North America: widespread with highly disjunct distribution in Canada and USA. The former Blue Ridge race of the Atlantic slope of the Appalchian Mountains is now recognized as a distinct species Cottus caeruleomentum.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Resilience
High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (tmax=2)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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