The Blue Ridge sculpin (''Cottus caeruleomentum'') is a species of sculpin in the family

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 ...

. It is native to the eastern United States, where it can be found in a number of river systems that drain into the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

.Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Eds
''Cottus caeruleomentum''.
FishBase. 2011.''Cottus caeruleomentum''.
NatureServe. 2012. This fish is variable in

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

.Kinziger, A. P., et al. (2000)
New species of ''Cottus'' (Teleostei: Cottidae) from the Middle Atlantic Eastern United States.
''Copeia'' 2000(4) 1007-18. It is up to about 6.3 centimeters long. In general, the species has dark saddle marks and an incomplete lateral line. There are small spines on the preoperculum and small prickles in the postpectoral area. The breeding male, at least in some regions, has blue to blue-green coloration on the chin, the mouth, the bases of some of the fins, and the membrane connecting the bones around the

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.Kinziger, A. P. and R. L. Raesly. (2001)
A narrow hybrid zone between two ''Cottus'' species in Wills Creek, Potomac drainage.
''Journal of Heredity'' 92(4) 309-314. The fish is very similar to its close relative, '' Cottus bairdi'', particularly the subspecies ''C. b. bairdi''. The latter has notches in the band marking the base of the tail; ''C. caeruleomentum'' lacks the notches on one or both sides. ''C. bairdi'' lacks the blue breeding coloration; its chin is blackish. The two fish occur together and are known to

hybridize Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to: *Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid *Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals *Nu ...

. This fish is native to the states of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

. It can be found in the Elk, Susquehanna,

Bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

, Patapsco, Patuxent, Potomac,

Nanticoke Nanticoke may refer to: * Nanticoke people in Delaware, United States * Nanticoke language, an Algonquian language * Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, a state-recognized tribe in New Jersey Place names Canada * Nanticoke, Ontario ** Nanticoke Generating S ...

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

, and Roanoke river drainages. The species is common in upland habitat, and less common in lowlands. It lives in creeks, springs, and

riffle A riffle is a shallow landform in a flowing channel. Colloquially, it is a shallow place in a river where water flows quickly past rocks. However, in geology a riffle has specific characteristics. Topographic, sedimentary and hydraulic indica ...

s. In coastal areas it is only found in cold streams. The diet is made up of

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s. The

parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

load of this species has been investigated. The nematode '' Rhabdochona cotti'' lives in its intestine.Moravec, F. and P. Muzzall. (2007)
Rediscription of ''Rhabdochona cotti'' (Nematoda, Rhabdochonidae) from ''Cottus caeruleomentum'' (Teleostei, Cottidae) in Maryland, USA, with remarks on the taxonomy of North American ''Rhabdochona'' spp.
''Acta Parasitologica'' 52(1) 51-57. Another nematode was found there and subsequently described as a new species named '' Freitascapillaria laticauda''. It can be over a centimeter long.Moravec, F. and P. M. Muzzall. (2009)
New species of ''Freitascapillaria'' (Nematoda: Capillariidae) from the intestine of ''Cottus caeruleomentum'' (Teleostei: Cottidae) in Maryland.
''Journal of Parasitology'' 95(4) 987-90.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6397515 Cottus (fish) Fish described in 2000