Sculpins: More Information
Description: These common fish are shaped like long, drawn-out teardrops, but with broad pectoral fins located just past the head. Rather triangular in cross section and with a long fin that runs down the back, tidepool sculpins rest on the bottom with their pectoral fins spread out on either side. The entire body is variously marked in browns, olive greens, and whites—often in saddles across the back. All of the several different species of tidepool sculpins are small, up to several inches long.
Taxonomy:
| Kingdom | Animalia -- Animal, animals, animaux | ||
| Phylum | Chordata -- chordates, cordado, cordés | ||
| Subphylum | Vertebrata -- vertebrado, vertebrates, vertébrés | ||
| Superclass | Osteichthyes -- bony fishes, osteíceto, peixe ósseo, poissons osseux | ||
| Class | Actinopterygii -- poisson épineux, poissons à nageoires rayonnées, ray-finned fishes, spiny rayed fishes | ||
| Subclass | Neopterygii -- neopterygians | ||
| Infraclass | Teleostei | ||
| Superorder | Acanthopterygii | ||
| Order | Scorpaeniformes -- chabots, mail-cheeked fishes, rascasses, scorpion fishes, sculpins | ||
| Suborder | Cottoidei -- chabots, sculpins | ||
| Superfamily | Cottoidea | ||
| Family | Cottidae -- bullheads, chabots, chabots de mer, charrascos espinosos, scaleless sculpins, scorpions de mer, sculpin |
Common Species:
Artedius lateralis (Girard, 1854) -- charrasco cabeza lisa, smoothhead sculpin
Oligocottus maculosus Girard, 1856 -- tidepool sculpin
Taxonomic information source: ITIS.gov