Pacific staghorn sculpin (Leptocottus armatus)

Scientific name: Leptocottus armatus Girard, 1854

Pacific staghorn sculpin (Leptocottus armatus)

The Pacific staghorn sculpin (Leptocottus armatus) is a brackish-water fish of the family Cottidae. Native range: Eastern Pacific, Izembek Lagoon, on the southeastern Bering Sea coast of Alaska to Bahia San Quintin, northern Baja California, Mexico.

Biology

Dorsal spines (total): 6 - 8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 15-20; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 15 - 20; Vertebrae: 37 - 39. Distinguished by the large upper preopercular spine ending in 3 or 4 sharp, upturned, curved spinules and by the large, dark spot on the posterior part of the spiny dorsal fin. Gill rakers reduced to flat, bony plates, each bearing a cluster of small teeth; lateral line nearly straight; each pore associated with a small subdermal cartilaginous plate. Caudal rounded. Grayish olive to rather green, occasionally with some yellow, dorsally; orange-yellow to white or silvery below lateral line; spiny dorsal dusky, with a black spot near tips of last 3 spines, a white band below it; soft dorsal fin dusky, with several oblique white to yellowish bands; pectorals yellow with 5 or 6 dark greenish bars; caudal dusky with one or two pale bands; anal and pelvic fins pale.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Leptocottus armatus
Family
Cottidae (Sculpins)
Order
Scorpaeniformes (Scorpionfishes and Flatheads)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
46.0
Common length
35.5
Depth range
0–156 m (0–512 ft)
Environment
Marine; brackish; demersal; amphidromous; depth range 0 - 156 m
Climate
Temperate
Distribution
Eastern Pacific: Izembek Lagoon, on the southeastern Bering Sea coast of Alaska to Bahia San Quintin, northern Baja California, Mexico.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Aquarium: public aquariums
Resilience
Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tm=1; tmax=10)

More other freshwater fish

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Sources

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

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