A sculpin is a type of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...

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 across species of marine sculpin.
''Zoology'' (Jena) 115(4), 223-32. As of 2006, this superfamily contains 7 families, 94 genera, and 387 species. Sculpins occur in many types of habitat, including

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

and

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does in ...

zones. They live in rivers, submarine canyons,

kelp forest Kelp forests are underwater areas with a high density of kelp, which covers a large part of the world's coastlines. Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on E ...

s, and shallow

littoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal areas ...

habitat types, such as tidepools. Sculpins are

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

fish, dwelling on the bottoms of water bodies. Their

pectoral fins 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 s ...

are smooth on the upper edge and webbed with sharp rays along the lower edge, a modification that makes them specialized for gripping the substrate. This adaptation helps the fish anchor in fast-flowing water. The sculpin normally grows to about four inches long.

Families and subfamilies

Families include: * Jordaniidae Starks, 1895 * Rhamphocottidae

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...

Gilbert Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters *Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South A ...

, 1883 *

Scorpaenichthyidae The cabezon (''Scorpaenichthys marmoratus'') is a large species of sculpin native to the Pacific coast of North America. Although the genus name translates literally as "scorpion fish", true scorpionfish (such as lionfish) belong to the related ...

Jordan & Evermann, 1898 * Agonidae Swainson, 1839 ** Hemilepidontinae Jordan & Evermann, 1898 ** Hemitripterinae

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 ar ...

, 1856 **

Bothragoninae ''Bothragonus'' is a genus of poachers native to the Pacific Ocean. Species There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * ''Bothragonus occidentalis'' Lindberg, 1935 * ''Bothragonus swanii'' (Steindachner Franz Steindachner (11 ...

Lindberg, 1971 ** Hypsagoninae Gill, 1861 **

Anoplagoninae Anoplagoninae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Agonidae, part of the 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. (20 ...

Gill, 1861 **

Brachyopsinae Brachyopsinae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Agonidae, part of the 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. (2 ...

Jordan & Evermann, 1898 **

Agoninae Agoninae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Agonidae, part of the 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)L ...

Swainson, 1839 ** Bathyagoninae Lindberg, 1971 * Cottidae Bonaparte, 1831 ** Cottinae Bonaparte, 1831 ** Comephorinae Bonaparte 1850 ** Abbyssocottinae Berg, 1907 * Psychrolutidae Günther, 1861 ** Cottunculinae

Regan The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri' ...

, 1913 ** Psychrolutinae Günther, 1861 *

Bathylutichthyidae ''Bathylutichthys'' is the sole genus in 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 purp ...

Balushkin & Voskoboinikova, 1990

Gallery

Blue Ridge sculpin - Cottus caeruleomentum.jpg, ''

Cottus caeruleomentum The Blue Ridge sculpin (''Cottus caeruleomentum'') is a species of sculpin in the family Cottidae. It is native to the eastern United States, where it can be found in a number of river systems that drain into the Atlantic.Froese, R. and D. Pauly, ...

'' ObiAHset.jpg, ''

Pseudoblennius zonostigma ''Pseudoblennius zonostigma'' is a species of 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 m ...

'' Sailfin sculpin (Nautichthys oculofasciatus).jpg, '' Nautichthys oculofasciatus'' Ambophthalmos angustus.jpg, ''

Ambophthalmos angustus The pale toadfish (''Ambophthalmos angustus'', previously classified as ''Neophrynichthys angustus''Keith L. Jackson and Joseph S. Nelson, ''Ambophthalmos'', a new genus for "''Neophrynichthys''" ''angustus'' and "''Neophrynichthys''" ''magnicirru ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1136740 Cottoidei Fish of Greenland