The lavender sculpin (''Leiocottus hirundo'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cottidae, 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. It is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

The lavender sculpin was first formally described by the French ichthyologist Charles Frédéric Girard in 1556 with its type locality /a> given as San Miguel Island near San Diego in California. ''Leiocottus hirundo'' is the only member of its genus. However, phylogenetically it falls within the diversity of the genus ''Clinocottus''. It is a sister taxon to ''Clinocottus analis''. The 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'' classifies the genus ''Leiocottus'' within the subfamily Cottinae of the family Cottidae, however, other authors classify the genus within the subfamily Psychrolutinae of the family Psychrolutidae.

Etymology

The lavender sculpin's genus name, ''Leiocottus'', is a combination of ''leios'' meaning "smooth" with '' Cottus'', the type genus of the family Cottidae. This is a reference to the smooth skin of this fish with no prickles or scales. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''hirundo'' is Latin for a swallow and is a reference to the similarity to ''

Chelidonichthys lucerna The tub gurnard (''Chelidonichthys lucerna''), also known as the sapphirine gurnard, tube-fish, tubfish or yellow gurnard, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Triglidae, the gurnards and sea robins. It is found in the e ...

'' Girard perceived in this species.

Description

The lavender sculpin has dorsal fins which are supported by 9 or 10 spines and 16 or 17 soft rays while the

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

has between 14 and 16 soft rays. The

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

s each have a single spine and 3 rays. The color is olive-green, brown, orange-brown or lavender with four saddle-like blotches along the back of the rear of the body and there are four brown bars on the lips. This species grows to a maximum published total length of .

Distribution and habitat

The lavender sculpin is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from southern California, United States to northern Baja California, Mexico. It lives from

inshore A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

waters to a depth of around .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1972097 Cottinae Monotypic fish genera Taxa named by Charles Frédéric Girard Fish described in 1856