''Artedius harringtoni'', also known as the scalyhead sculpin or plumose sculpin, is a

demersal The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a layer of ...

species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Cottidae The Cottidae are a family of fish in the superfamily Cottoidea, the sculpins. It is the largest sculpin family, with about 275 species in 70 genera.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology ...

, the typical

sculpin A sculpin is a type of fish that belongs to the superfamily Cottoidea in the order Scorpaeniformes.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology suggest transitions in station-holding demand a ...

s. The species is native to the eastern Pacific.

Etymology

The genus ''

Artedius ''Artedius'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. These fishes are found in the northern Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ''Artedius'' was first proposed as a genus in 1854 by the French zoologist ...

'' is named after Peter Artedi, a naturalist, and ''A. harringtoni'' is named after Mark W. Harrington,

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

from 1895 to 1897.

Description

''Artedius harringtoni'' uses

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...

to blend into its surroundings. It can be identified by the orange linings of its

gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

s and the orange or red lines running through its eyes. The species also has

cirri Giovanni Battista Cirri (1 October 1724 – 11 June 1808) was an Italian cellist and composer in the 18th century. Biography Cirri was born in Forlì in the Emilia-Romagna Region of Italy. He had his first musical training with his brother ...

above each eye. ''A. harringtoni'' is sexually dimorphic, with adult males reaching a maximum length of 10 centimeters.

Range and habitat

''Artedius harringtoni'' is native to the eastern Pacific along the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

and the

British Columbia Coast , settlement_type = Region of British Columbia , image_skyline = , nickname = "The Coast" , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = British ...

, with a range extending from Kodiak Island,

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, to San Miguel Island,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The species is found in intertidal and sub-tidal rocky bottoms, commonly around pilings, to a depth of 21 meters.

Reproduction and behavior

Artedius harringtoni stages of development

The species reproduces through internal fertilization, with the males guarding the eggs until hatching. Males are highly

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

Diet and feeding

''Artedius harringtoni'' is a

forager A forager is a person who collects edible plants or fungi for consumption. Urban foragers may collect in city parks, private lands, and sidewalks. Urban foraging has gained in popularity in the 21st century, as people share their knowledge, experi ...

and

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

. It has been known to eat the eggs of the

Lingcod The lingcod or ling cod (''Ophiodon elongatus''), also known as the buffalo cod or cultus cod, is a fish of the greenling family Hexagrammidae. It is the only extant member of the genus ''Ophiodon. ''A slightly larger, extinct species, '' Ophi ...

(''Ophiodon elongates'').

Parasites

The species is host to two species of parasitic

copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...

s, '' Haemobaphes intermedius'' and '' Clavella parva'', a species of cestodes, (''

Bothriocephalus scorpii ''Bothriocephalus'' is a genus of flatworms belonging to the family Bothriocephalidae. The genus has cosmopolitan distribution. Species: *'' Bothriocephalus alessandrinii'' *'' Bothriocephalus andresi'' *''Bothriocephalus angustatus'' *'' B ...

''), a species of

digenea Digenea (Gr. ''Dis'' – double, ''Genos'' – race) is a class of trematodes in the Platyhelminthes phylum, consisting of parasitic flatworms (known as ''flukes'') with a syncytial tegument and, usually, two suckers, one ventral and one oral. ...

n, ('' Stephanostomum casum''), and two species of

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...

s ('' Ascarophis sebastodis'' and '' Contracaecum spiculigerum'').

References

External links

Scalyhead Sculpin (''Artedius harringtoni'')
at th
Encyclopedia of Life
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2218564 harringtoni Fish of the North Pacific Fish described in 1896 Taxa named by Edwin Chapin Starks